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STEWART  OF   LOVEDALE 


THE  LIFE  OF 


JAMES  STEWART,  D.D.,  M.D. 


HON.    F.R.G.S. 


BY 


/ 


JAMES    WELLS,    D,D. 


WITH    ILLUSTRATIONS    AND    MAPS 


FLEMING   H.    REVELL   COMPANY 
NEW   YORK      CHICAGO 


PREFACE 

This  book  might  have  been  fitly  entitled  The  Life 
and  Times  of  Dr.  Stewart,  for  it  records  his  influen- 
tial share  in  the  enterprises  which  have  made  a  new 
world  of  South  and  Central  Africa. 

Several  of  the  chapters  are  occupied  with  the 
great  causes  which  Dr.  Stewart  espoused ;  and  they 
present  his  chief  convictions  in  the  form  that  seemed 
most  likely  to  interest  the  many  circles  of  young 
people  in  Great  Britain  and  America  who  are  now 
studying  Foreign  Missions, 

My  heartiest  thanks  are  due  to  many  helpers, 
foremost  among  whom  are  Mrs.  Stewart  and  John 
Stephen,  Esq.  I  wish  I  could  thank  them  all,  one 
by  one. 

I  have  drawn  freely  on  the  admirable  In  Memo- 
riani  number  of  the  Christian  Express,  which  was 
edited,  and  to  a  large  extent  written,  by  Dr.  Roberts 
of  Lovedale. 

The  Rev.  J.  M.  Sloan,  M.A.,  and  Sir.  A.  R.  Simp- 
son, M.D.,  have  revised  the  proofs  and  made  many 
helpful  suggestions. 


THE  CHIEF  DATES  IN  THE  LIFE  OF 
DR.  STEWART 


Born     ...... 

Licensed  as  a  Preacher 

Exploring  in  Central  Africa    . 

Graduated  in  Medicine  and  Married 

Began  as  Missionary  at  Lovedale 

Prospecting  for  the  Gordon  Memorial  Mission 

Founded  Blythswood  .  .  . 

Originated  Livingstonia 

In  Nyasaland  ..... 

The  Expansion  of  Lovedale   . 
Pioneering  the  East  African  Mission 
Lectured  on  Evangelistic  Theology  in  Scotland 
Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly 
Delivered  the  Duff  Lectures  , 
Presided  at  First  General  Missionary  Conference 
in  South  Africa     .... 

'And  He  Died'  .... 


1831 

i860 

1861-63 

1866 

1867 

1870 

1873 

1874 

1876-77 

1878-90 

1891-92 

1892-93 

1 899- 1 900 

1902 

1904 
1905 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I 

rAGB 

THE   MAKING   OF   THE   MISSIONARY      ....  I 

CHAPTER  II 

THE   UNIVERSITY   STUDENT       .....  9 

CHAPTER  III 

THE   STUDENT  OF   DIVINITY,  1855-1859  ...  17 

CHAPTER  IV 

THE   PROBATIONER,    1860-1865  .  .  .  .27 

CHAPTER  V 

THE  GERM   OF   LIVINGSTONIA  .....  33 

CHAPTER  VI 

ON   THE   WAY     .......  $8 

CHAPTER  VII 

FURTHER   ON   THE  WAY  .....  SO 

CHAPTER  VIII 

THE   COMPANION   OF   LIVINGSTONE       ....  62 

CHAPTER  IX 

THE   ZAMBESIAN,    1862-1863      .....  81 


vi  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

CHAPTER  X 

FAGS 

THE  STUDENT   OF   MEDICINE    .  .  .  .  .  94 

CHAPTER  XI 

STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE,    1867-1874     .  .  .  .  lOI 

CHAPTER  Xn 

THE   FATHER  OF   BLYTHSWOOD,    1873-1880      .  .  .  112 

CHAPTER  XHI 

THE  FOUNDER   OF   LIVINGSTONIA,    1874-1875  .  .  I23 

CHAPTER  XIV 

AT  LIVINGSTONIA,    1876-1877  .....  133 

CHAPTER  XV 

LIVINGSTONIA,    YESTERDAY   AND  TO-DAY         .  .  .  I42 

CHAPTER  XVI 

THE   ESSENTIAL   ETHIOPIAN      .....  155 

CHAPTER  XVII 

THE   MISSIONARY  ......  166 

CHAPTER  XVIII 

PREACHER  AND   PASTOR  .....  179 

CHAPTER  XIX 

THE   EDUCATIONALIST  .....  187 

CHAPTER  XX 

THE   AGRICULTURALIST  .  .  .  '  .  206 


CONTENTS  vii 

CHAPTER  XXI 

PAGS 

THE  CAPTAIN   OF    INDUSTRIES  ....  215 

CHAPTER  XXn 

THE   MEDICAL  MISSIONARY       .....  222 

CHAPTER  XXIII 

THB  PIONEER   OF  THE   EAST   AFRICAN   MISSION,    189I-1892  .  23I 

CHAPTER  XXIV 

THE   CHAMPION   OF   MISSIONS  .....  242 

CHAPTER  XXV 

THE  APOSTLE   OF   CIVILISATION  ....  256 

CHAPTER  XXVI 

THB   NATIVES  AND   THE   EUROPEANS  ....  270 

CHAPTER  XXVII 

ETHIOPIANISM   .......  287 

CHAPTER  XXVIII 

THE   MODERATOR,    1899-I9OO   .....  3OO 

CHAPTER  XXIX 

THE   AUTHOR     .......  3I2 

CHAPTER  XXX 

THE  CONVERTS  ......  317 

CHAPTER  XXXI 

SOUTH    AFRICAN    BY-PRODUCTS  ....  327 


viii  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

CHAPTER  XXXII 

PAGB 
AT   HOME  ....•••  339 

CHAPTER  XXXIII 

SOMGXADA  :  THE   MAN   OF   ACTION        .  .  •  •  35° 


CHAPTER  XXXIV 

THE  OPTIMIST  .  .  .  .  . 


.       358 


CHAPTER  XXXV 

THE  CLOSING   YEARS,    1899-I905  .  .  .  .3^7 

CHAPTER  XXXVI 

THE   MAN  :   HIS   OUTER   LIFE    .  .  .  •  .  37^ 

CHAPTER  XXXVII 

THE   MAN  :   HIS   INNER   LIFE     .....  3^7 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII 

APPRECIATIONS  ......  397 

CHAPTER  XXXIX 

LOVEDALE  TO-DAY  ......  406 

CHAPTER  XL 

THE  CENTRAL   NATIVE   COLLEGE  ,  .  .  .  4II 

INDEX 417 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Frontispiece 

FACING   I'AGE 

95 


PORTRAIT   OF   DR.    STEWART     . 

A   NATIVE   WITCH-DOCTOR 

PORTRAIT  OF   DR.  STEWART,    AGE   40^1 

THE  BEGINNING   OF   LOVEDALE  J 

WAGON   AND   NATIVE   HUTS       , 

THE   girls'   SCHOOL   AT   LOVEDALE       . 

THE    ILALA    AS    RECONSTRUCTED    AT    THE    NORTH   END   OF 
THE   MURCHISON   RAPIDS  . 

A   SCENE   ON   THE   UPPER   SHIRE 

LOVEDALE   PUPIL-TEACHERS   AT   DRILL 

VILLAGE  SCHOOL   AT   LOVEDALE 

GROUPS  OF   NATIVE   GIRLS  AT   LOVEDALE 

THE   LOVEDALE  STAFF   AND  THEIR  WIVES       . 

THE   MAIN   AVENUE  AT   LOVEDALE       , 

AFTERNOON   WORK-PARTIES   AT  LOVEDALE     . 

DOMIRA   FARM   AT   LOVEDALE. 

INSIDE   THE   printers'   SHOP,    LOVEDALE 

b 


lOI 

103 
109 

130 

x86 
189 
192 
196 
206 
210 
213 

215 


X  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

FACING    PAGE 

TECHNICAL   BUILDING   AT   LOVEDALE  .  .  .  217 


INTERIOR   OF  TECHNICAL   BUILDING   AT    LOVEDALE 


THE   BRICKFIELD 

HOSPITAL   AND    DOCTOR'S   HOUSE 


EDALE"! 


DR.    MACVICAR   AND   HIS   NATIVE  ASSISTANTS  AT   LOVEDALE 

HOSPITAL   .......  227 


DR.  STEWART'S   HORSE   AT   KIKDYU,    AND   BAOBAB   TREE 
BLACK   AND   WHITE   IN    HARMONY  :    THE   LOVEDALE   BAND 


235 


LOVEDALE  STUDENTS'  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATION  AND  MISSION 

BAND  .......  243 

THE      principal's      HOUSE,     WITH      GROUP     OF     LOVEDALE 

STUDENTS   AND   STAFF   ON   EMPIRE   DAY  .  .  .  256 

GRODP   OF   HOUSE   BOYS   AT   LOVEDALE  .  .  .  259 

FINGO   WOMEN  .......  26I 

GIRLS    AND     BOYS    ON     PARADE,    WITH     NATIVE   TEACHERS, 

AT  LOVEDALE  .  .  .  .  267 

THE    NATIVE   LAWS   COMMISSION,    OF   WHICH    DR.    STEWART 

WAS   A   MEMBER      ......  276 

OFFICES,  BOOKSHOP,  DORMITORIES,  AND  TEACHERS'  HOUSE. 
ON  THE  LEFT  IN  THE  BACKGROUND  SANDILl'S  KOP, 
THE   BURIAL-PLACE   OF   DR.    STEWART      .  .  .  313 

SENIOR   NORMAL   CLASS   AT   LOVEDALE  .  .  .  32I 

A  TRIBAL  GROUP   AT   LOVEDALE — BECHUANAS  .  .  323 


ILLUSTRATIONS  xi 

FACING    PAGE 

THE   KINDERGARTEN   CLASS   AT  LOVEDAI.E      .  .  .  329 

MRS.    STEWART  ......  33^ 

LORD   MILNER   OPENING   THE   MUIRHEAD   HALL,  THE  GIRLS' 

SCHOOL,    LOVEDALE  ......  345 

INTERIOR   OF   carpenters'   SHOP   AT   LOVEDALE         .  .  353 

THE   NATIVES   AS   THEY   ARE   AT   HOME"j 

[       .  -  .3^5 

THE   NATIVES   WHEN    CIVILISED  J 

THE  FIRST  GENERAL  MISSIONARY  CONFERENCE  IN  SOUTH 
AFRICA,  HELD  AT  JOHANNESBURG  IN  JULY  I904  UNDER 
THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   DR.    STEWART  ,  .  .  369 

NATIVE  CONVENTION   AT   DR.    STEWART's   GRAVE        .  .  376 

the  sketch  of  the  monument  to  be  erected  at  dk. 

Stewart's  grave  .....        398 

native  convention  at  the  proposed  site  of  the 
interstate  college,  with  sandill's  kop  in  the 
background        .  .  .  .  ,  .        4ii 


MAPS 

MAP  OF   THE  ZAMBESI   AND   LAKE   NYASA       ....  60 

MAP  OF  SOUTH   EAST   AFRICA  ......  II4 


STEWART    OF    LOVEDALE 

CHAPTER    I 

THE   MAKING   OF   THE   MISSIONARY 

A  Great  Resolve — His  Mother — His  Father — The  Disruption 
— Church-building — Youthful  Religion — Parallel  Experi- 
ences. 

'  Man's  sociability  of  nature  evinces  itself  ...  by  this  one  fact— the 
unspeakable  delight  he  takes  in  biography.' — Carlyle. 

'  Youthful  imaginations  should  be  great  picture-galleries  and  Valhallas 
of  heroic  souls.  Lives  of  great  men  nourish  the  imagination  more  than 
the  best  novels.' — Professor  Blacklegs  '  Self-culture.' 

'  In  books  we  find  the  dead  living.' — Richard  de  Bury. 

'  One  event  is  always  the  child  of  another,  and  we  must  not  forget  the 
genealogy.' — A  Bechuana  Chief. 

'  This  man  put  his  band  to  the  plough  and  never  looked  back. ' — 
Epitaph  in  Exeter  Cathedral. 

Sixty-two  years  ago  a  tall  youth  of  fifteen  was  fol- 
lowing the  plough  in  a  field  in  Perthshire.  His  two 
horses  came  to  a  .standstill  in  mid-furrow,  and  he  was 
not  minded  to  urge  them  on.  Leaning  on  the  stilts 
of  the  plough,  he  began  to  brood  over  his  future. 
What  was  it  to  be?  The  question  flashed  across  his 
mind — 'Might  I  not  make  more  of  my  life  than 
by  remaining  here  ? '  He  straightened  himself  and 
said,  '  God  helping  me,  I  will  be  a  missionary.' 

That  was  the  making  of  the  man  and  the  missionary. 
A 


2  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

His  whole  life  lay  in  that  deed,  as  the  giant  oak 
lies  in  the  acorn.  The  divine  call  came  to  the 
Perthshire  youth,  as  it  came  to  Elisha,  at  the  plough. 
In  the  days  of  His  flesh  it  was  Christ's  way  to  call 
His  apostles  when  busy  at  their  daily  toil. 

The  aim  of  this  chapter  is  to  reveal  the  influences 
which  secured  that  *  I  will ' :  the  following  chapters 
will  chronicle  the  results  which  flowed  from  it. 

On  February  14,  1831,  James  Stewart  was  born  in 
Edinburgh,  at  5  South  Charlotte  Street,  adjoining 
136  Princes  Street. 

Like  most  great  and  good  men,  he  was  largely 
mother-made. 

'  I  well  recall  his  mother's  presence,'  his  cousin 
writes.  '  She  was  the  finest  specimen  of  a  noble 
woman  I  have  ever  seen,  possessing  in  their  highest 
development  all  the  features  of  the  great  Norse  race 
from  which  she  came.  She  belonged  to  the  Dudgeon 
sept  of  the  Norsemen,  and  her  family  settled  at 
Liberty  Hall,  near  Gladsmuir  in  Haddingtonshire. 
She  was  a  woman  of  much  refinement,  of  great 
ability,  and  saintly  character.  To  her  he  owed  his 
innate  love  and  appreciation  of  all  that  was  beautiful 
and  seemly.'  His  mother  died  when  he  was  in  his 
teens,  and  his  father  married  a  second  time. 

After  passing  through  a  preparatory  school,  he 
was  educated  at  the  Edinburgh  High  School  and  at 
the  Perth  Academy. 

His  birthplace,  quite  near  Edinburgh  Castle  and 
Princes  Street  Gardens — one  of  the  fairest  spots  on 
earth — probably  exerted  a  subtle  influence  over  his 
tastes.  As  he  sauntered — we  should  rather  say, 
hurried,  for  he  seems  never  to  have  sauntered  any- 
where— along  Princes  Street  to  school,  he  had 
around  him  beauty  in  the  lap  of  grandeur.     His  sur- 


FATHER  AND  MOTHER  3 

roundings,  we  may  believe,  fostered  both  his  piety 
and  his  patriotism,  and  also  helped  to  develop  that 
keen  sense  of  natural  beauty  which  distinguished 
him  through  life.  The  scenery  he  gazes  upon  every 
day  often  rouses  and  lights  up  the  spirit  of  a  boy. 

His  father,  a  successful  cab  proprietor  in  Edin- 
burgh, became  tenant,  about  1842,  of  Pictstonhill,  a 
farm  between  Scone  and  Perth.  He  was  one  of 
six  stalwart  brothers  who  were  born  at  Dull  in 
Perthshire.  '  He  was ' — this  from  James  Stewart's 
cousin — 'a  deeply  religious  man,  and  his  prayers 
at  family  worship  were  never  to  be  forgotten  for 
reverence  and  fervour.  His  attendance  at  divine 
worship  was  unbroken,  and  when  he  was  dying,  he 
had  to  be  taken  to  church  to  partake  of  his  last 
communion.  To  him  James  owed  his  physical 
manliness,  his  strong  will,  his  grave  dignity  and 
graciousness,  and  his  attention  to  attire.  Father 
and  son,  too,  had  the  same  largeness  of  heart  towards 
the  suffering,  the  oppressed,  and  the  fallen.'  In  the 
best  sense,  James  Stewart  was  well  born.  It  is  true 
that  he  who  lives  a  noble  life  has  no  need  of 
ancestors  ;  but  it  is  also  true  that  he  who  has  noble 
ancestors  is  the  most  likely  to  live  a  noble  life. 
Though  grace  does  not  run  in  the  blood,  blood  and 
tradition  tell. 

James  was  in  his  thirteenth  year  at  the  Disruption.^ 

'  '  The  Disruption '  is  the  name  usually  given  to  that  deed  by  which, 
on  May  18,  1843,  four  hundred  and  seventy  ministers,  along  with 
many  elders,  members,  and  adherents  of  the  Church  of  Scotland, 
severed  (or  disrupted)  their  connection  with  the  State,  and  formed  the 
Free  Church  of  Scotland,  in  order  to  preserve  the  rights  and  liberties 
which  they  believed  to  be  in  harmony  with  the  Word  of  God,  the 
Standards  of  their  Church,  and  the  Statutes  of  the  realm.  Lord 
Cockburn  calls  it  '  the  most  remarkable  upheaval  in  Scotland  since 
the  Reformation,'  and  '  the  most  honourable  fact  for  Scotland  that  its 
whole  history  supplies.' 


4  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

*  Pictstonhill,'  as  his  father  was  designated  from  the 
name  of  his  farm,  was  an  admirable  representative 
of  a  class  of  elders  to  whom  the  Free  Church  of 
Scotland  largely  owed  its  spiritual  power,  and  its 
achievements  at  home  and  abroad.  Homes  like  his 
were  splendid  nurseries  of  living  faith,  lofty  ideals, 
and  self-sacrificing  heroism. 

As  the  parish  minister  of  Scone  did  not  'come 
out'  in  '43,  Pictstonhill  became  the  leader  of  the 
Free  Church  party  in  his  district.  He  was  the  heart 
and  soul  of  the  movement,  and  his  house  was  the 
gathering-place  for  the  Free  Church  leaders.  With- 
out the  influence  and  liberality  of  his  family  the 
Free  Church  of  Scone  could  not  have  been  built. 
Divine  service  was  held  in  his  barnyard  in  summer, 
and  in  winter  in  the  barn :  both  were  thus  conse- 
crated to  the  higher  husbandry.  The  Lord's  Supper 
was  celebrated  and  several  children  were  baptized  in 
the  barn.  Andrew  Bonar  (then  of  Collace),  Andrew 
Gray  and  John  Milne  of  Perth,  fervent  evangelists, 
often  preached  there,  and  many  were  deeply  im- 
pressed. As  old  people  said  long  afterwards,  the 
Pictstonhill  meetings  were  '  the  talk  o'  the  hale 
country-side.'  These  Disruption  experiences  were 
fitted  to  draw  forth  the  generous  chivalry  of  a 
thoughtful  boy.  James  held  the  candle  in  the  barn 
when  the  preacher  read  the  Bible.  When  he  preached 
for  the  first  time  in  Scone,  an  old  woman  said  'the 
last  time  I  saw  him,  he  was  juist  a  hafflin'  laddie,  and 
a  cannel-stick.' 

When  the  first  Free  Church  was  built  at  Scone, 
'  Pictstonhill'  provided  the  sand,  and  also  carted  all 
the  stones  gratis.  At  first  they  had  to  be  brought 
from  a  distance,  as  the  proprietor  would  not  allow 
the  Free  Church  people  to  use  a  neighbouring  quarry. 


HIS  INTELLECTUAL  BIRTHTIME  s 

At  last  he  consented,  and  the  piebald  church — the 
stones  being  of  different  colours — was  a  memorial  of 
the  fluctuating  feelings  of  Disruption  days.  James 
gave  his  school  holidays  to  the  work  of  carting  the 
stones.  He  was  thus  from  his  boyhood  a  light- 
bearer,  a  builder,  and  an  extender  of  Christ's 
Church. 

In  token  of  their  gratitude  to  '  Pictstonhill,'  the 
villagers  in  1844  insisted  on  reaping  his  harvest-fields 
without  hire. 

As  the  Free  Church  congregation  was  for  some 
time  without  a  pastor,  Mr.  Stewart  got  his  brother 
Charles,  the  Free  Church  minister  of  Kirkmichael, 
to  come,  not  only  to  preach,  but  also  to  visit  the 
poor,  the  feeble,  and  the  sick. 

James  used  to  carry  a  lame  brother  on  his  back  to 
church  and  Sabbath-school — a  distance  of  about 
half  a  mile.  Even  then  he  was,  as  all  through  life,  a 
chivalrous  helper  of  the  weak. 

He  seems  to  have  had  an  early  intellectual  birth- 
time,  for  he  was  a  great  reader  in  his  boyhood  and 
had  a  very  tenacious  memory.  He  often  strolled 
among  the  hills  on  his  father's  farm  and  read  for 
hours  his  favourite  authors — Plutarch,  Shakespeare, 
Milton,  and  Browning. 

Like  most  believing  Scotsmen,  Stewart  was  not 
prone  to  reveal  by  speech  his  deepest  religious 
experiences.  It  seems  that  he  yielded  early  and 
gladly  to  the  holy  influences  playing  upon  him,  and 
that  his  Christian  life  resembled  the  healthy  plants 
he  loved  and  understood,  which  quietly  absorb  from 
climate  and  atmosphere  the  many  mystic  forces 
which  they  mould  into  things  of  use  and  beauty.  A 
Puritan  Father  on  soul-winning  says,  '  God  never 
gives  to  one  man  a  whole  soul.'     The  home  life  and 


6  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

church  life  around  him  were  well  fitted  to  win  an 
ingenuous  boy.  The  excellences  of  father  and 
mother  were  very  manifestly  and  not  unequally  re- 
produced in  the  leal-hearted  lad.  Twice  was  he 
their  son — in  soul  as  in  body.  They  both  lived  in 
him,  and  through  him  they  are  still  serving  Christ's 
Church,  and  shall  serve  coming  generations.  It  is 
said  that  James  was  also  deeply  influenced  by  a 
devoted  invalid  lady  who  had  a  Bible-class  at  her 
house. 

So  far  as  we  can  learn,  young  Stewart  seems  to 
have  escaped  that  *  fever  of  adolescence '  which  often 
attends  the  first  struggles  between  the  excited  boy 
and  the  emerging  man.  Those  who  knew  him  then 
discovered  no  trace  of  that  wayward  assertion  of 
native  force,  which  one  of  its  victims  likens  to  '  the 
bursting  of  the  flower-pot  by  the  oak  sapling.' 
Double-moated  by  grace  in  the  best  of  homes,  he 
was  early  taught  to  tame  his  heart,  and,  so  it  seems, 
he  was  kept  from  those  things  which  poison  the 
springs  of  life,  and  impoverish  one's  powers  for 
service.  His  early  life  is  all  of  a  piece  with  the  great 
resolve  he  made  as  he  leant  on  his  plough.  That 
explains  all  that  he  has  done,  or  thought,  or  become. 
He  was  born  and  brought  up  in  the  '  moral  purple.' 

One  day,  when  carrying  a  gun,  as  he  often  did,  he 
suddenly  stopt,  lifted  up  his  head  with  an  energetic 
gesture,  and  said  to  his  cousin,  'Jim,  I  shall  never  be 
satisfied  till  I  am  in  Africa  with  a  Bible  in  my  pocket, 
and  a  rifle  on  my  shoulder  to  supply  my  wants.'  In 
the  heart  of  Africa  this  youthful  desire  was  often 
fulfilled  to  the  letter. 

Only  one  statement  about  his  boyish  experiences 
has  been  found  among  his  papers.  In  it  he  says : 
'Though   from    my  earliest   years    I    meant  to   go 


HIS  BOYISH  IDEAL  7 

abroad,  I  cannot  say  that  missionary  work  attracted 
me  at  first.  The  boy's  ideal  firmly  fixed  and  con- 
stantly recurring,  was  to  lead  an  expedition  in  some 
unexplored  region.  That  was  probably  nothing 
more  than  the  mere  restlessness  of  race-instinct  in  a 
boy  half  Norse  on  his  mother's  side,  if  also  half  Celt 
on  the  other.  As  a  lad  I  had  to  work  with  horses 
on  the  farm.  I  have  often  been  thankful  for  that 
training.  The  nature  of  the  work  gave  me  plenty  of 
time  to  think,  and  when  a  certain  change  came,  my 
mind  also  turned  to  missions.  This  interest  con- 
tinued, though  with  varying  force.' 

Arthur  Helps  says:  'The  mill-streams  that  turn 
the  clappers  of  the  world  arise  in  solitary  places.' 
The  explorer  of  a  great  river  usually  begins  at  the 
sea  and  mounts  to  the  source.  Easier  and  more 
fascinating  is  the  task  of  the  biographer  and  the 
sympathetic  reader,  for  they  begin  at  the  fountain- 
head  and  move  downwards  along  the  growing 
current.  We  have  located  the  source  of  a  fruitful 
stream  in  the  sunlit  uplands  of  a  happy  boyhood, 
and  in  the  corner  of  a  field.^  That  field  was  as 
memorable  a  spot  to  Stewart  as  was  to  Paul  the 
hillock  near  Damascus,  where  he  saw  the  heavenly 
vision  and  heard  the  heavenly  voice. 

During  his  furloughs  he  revisited  that  birthplace 
of  his  great  resolve,  and  he  sometimes  told  the  story 
to  his  intimate  friends. 

The  resolve  then  formed  was  the  work  of  a 
moment.^      But  could    we   explore  the   mysterious 

*  TJie  exact  spot  is  in  the  angle  between  the  highway  from  Perth  to 
Scone  and  the  road  up  to  the  Carse  of  Gowrie. 

'  Robert  Burns  had  an  exactly  parallel  experience,  which  he 
presents  to  us,  not  in  the  daylight  of  fact,  but  in  the  limelight  of  fancy. 
He    says  :    '  The  genius  of  my  country  found  me,  as  Elijah  found 


8  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

origins  and  growths  in  the  unfathomable  depths  of 
the  sub-conscious  soul,  we  should  probably  discover 
that  the  suddenness  of  such  a  resolve  lies  only  in  the 
first  manifestation  of  the  inner  life,  and  that  in  the 
moment  of  decision,  long-continued  processes  are 
then  brought,  not  to  being,  but  to  full  consciousness. 
Be  that  as  it  may,  autobiography  and  biography 
teem  with  instances  of  men  and  women  of  all 
classes,  ages,  and  creeds,  who  in  a  moment  formed 
the  choice  which  made  them  all  they  afterwards 
became. 

Thus  in  his  teens,  James  Stewart  put  his  hand  to 
Christ's  plough.  Never  looking  back,  he  continued 
to  draw  straight  and  deep  furrows  in  the  veldt  of 
heathenism,  till  his  last  call  found  him  in  the  great 
field  of  his  lifelong  labours.  This  rare  constancy 
was  due  to  his  home-bred,  deep,  definite,  and  un- 
changing Evangelical  convictions;  and  the  resulting 
unity  of  his  life  is  likely  to  gratify  the  reader  as  it 
has  gratified  the  biographer. 

Elisha,  at  the  plough,  and  threw  his  inspiring  mantle  over  me.' 
Carlyle  leads  us  to  believe  that  he  could  have  pointed  out  the  very 
flagstone  in  Leith  Walk  where,  one  sultry  Dogday,  he  experienced 
what  he  calls  his  'spiritual  new  birth,'  and  '  baphometic  fire-baptism.' 


CHAPTER     II 

THE    UNIVERSITY   STUDENT 

In  Edinburgh,  1850-52  and  1854-55. 
In  St.  Andrews,  1852-54. 

His  appearance — His  Studies — Many-sidedness — His  Tutor- 
ship— His  Fellow-students — Testimonies  of  Dr.  Wallace 
and  Dr.  Robertson. 

'Res  non  verba'  (Things  not  words). — Lttiher's  motto. 

'  The  artist  is  known  by  his  self-limitation.' — Tennyson. 

' Aien  Arisfeuein'  (Ever  to  be  the  best). — Motto  of  St.  Andrews  Uni- 
versity. 

Stewart  matriculated  first  in  the  University  of 
Adversity.  Serious  financial  losses  constrained  his 
father  to  quit  his  farm  about  1847,  and  begin  life 
anew  in  Edinburgh  on  the  old  lines.  James  man- 
fully did  his  best  to  aid  the  family  in  their  efforts, 
which  proved  successful.  During  three  or  four 
years  he  had  a  business  training,  which  was  very 
useful  to  him  in  after  life  when  he  had  so  much  to 
do  with  business  and  business  men.  His  experi- 
ences during  those  strenuous  days  would  also  deepen 
that  keen  sympathy  with  the  struggling,  which  was 
a  part  of  his  inheritance  from  father  and  mother. 
Such  a  strain,  nobly  borne,  would  add  strength  to 
his  unusual  powers  of  resolve  and  self-reliance. 
Like  many  Scottish  students,  he  supported  himself ' 
by  private  tutoring. 


y 


lo  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

He  did  not  enter  the  Edinburgh  University  till  his 
twentieth  year.  I  have  failed  to  glean  any  information 
about  his  studies  in  Edinburgh,  except  that  he  did 
not  take  the  classes  in  the  usual  order,  and  that  he 
was  at  the  same  time  at  business.  After  two  sessions 
there,  his  uncle,  the  Rev.  Charles  Stewart,  died, 
and  as  James  was  tutor  to  his  cousins,  he  removed 
with  his  aunt  to  St.  Andrews,  his  ideal  of  a 
University  town. 

He  then  had  that  bearing  of  distinction  which 
remained  with  him  through  life.  In  face  and  form 
he  carried  with  him  everywhere,  to  borrow  Bacon's 
phrase,  *a  letter  of  perpetual  recommendation.' 
There  was  not  about  him  a  particle  of  affectation. 
Broad-shouldered,  upright  as  a  palm,  tall — he  was 
six  feet  two  inches  without  his  shoes  and  propor- 
tioned well — with  a  vigorous  sweep  and  stride,  his 
frame  seemed  to  be  endowed  equally  with  strength, 
agility,  and  gracefulness.^  He  had  a  peculiar  step, 
like  that  of  a  stag  or  a  Red  Indian  hunter.  I  re- 
member vividly  the  first  time  I  saw  him,  as  he  was 
striding  across  the  college  quadrangle.  I  thought  of 
Homer's  Ajax  as  he  moved  on  the  battlefield.  He 
attracted  attention,  and  people  would  turn  round 
and  look  at  him  after  he  had  passed  in  the  street. 
Once  seen,  he  was  not  likely  to  be  forgotten  or 
mistaken  for  any  other  man.  In  respect  of  dress, 
the  African  natives  might  justly  have  given  him  the 
title  which  they  gave  to  his  friend  Coillard — 'the 
father  of  neatness.'  ^ 

^  The  '  portrait '  in  this  and  the  following  chapter  is  partly  from 
personal  knowledge,  as  during  one  session  I  was  a  fellow-student  with 
him,  but  chiefly  from  information  supplied  by  his  fellow-students. 

*  On  his  return  to  London  from  one  of  his  African  expeditions,  he 
was  walking  in  the  Strand,  unconscious  of  the  fact  that  he  was  still 
wearing  his  African  sun-helmet.     A  city  Arab  came  alongside  of  him, 


THE  TRUE  IDEA  OF  CULTURE  ii 

One  writes  :  '  He  changed  less  than  most  men  dur- 
ing his  lifetime.  Even  in  face  and  figure  he  continued 
very  much  the  man  he  was  in  those  student  days.' 
Another  writes :  *  His  appearance  then  recalled  to 
me  the  words  applied  to  the  youthful  David,  King 
of  Israel — "  He  was  ruddy,  and  withal  of  a  beautiful 
countenance,  and  goodly  to  look  to." '  Another 
thought,  however,  that  he  resembled  King  Saul 
rather  than  David.  '  He  was  greatly  beloved  in  his 
youth.  There  was  something  extremely  attractive 
in  his  whole  demeanour,  and  there  was  a  vein  of 
humour  in  his  conversation  which  endeared  him  to 
us  all.' 

He  had  excellent  intellectual  gifts.  His  was  a 
nimble  and  vigorous  mind  that  quickly  reached  the 
heart  of  a  subject.  But  he  was  not  a  distinguished 
student  in  the  academic  sense.  The  lore  of  the 
University  had  no  exclusive  attractions  for  him. 
'  Man  lives  for  culture,'  says  Goethe,  '  not  for  what 
he  can  accomplish,  but  for  what  can  be  accomplished 
in  him.'  Stewart's  conception  of  culture  was  totally 
opposed  to  that,  while  he  was  equally  opposed  to 
the  pursuit  of  knowledge  for  the  sake  of  bread  and 
butter.  With  him  knowledge  was  an  instrument  and 
a  practical  power,  not  a  luxury  or  an  adornment, 
and  the  crown  of  all  study  was  character  and  service. 

Moreover,  even  when  as  a  boy  he  roamed  with  a 
gun  over  his  father's  farm,  his    heart    was  set   on 

and  tried  to  keep  step  with  him.  The  odd  procession  arrested  the 
attention  of  many,  among  whom  was  another  Arab,  who  stood  gazing 
at  the  sun-tanned,  travel-stained  giant.  The  boy  by  Stewart's  side, 
with  upturned  thumb,  pointed  over  his  shoulder  and  shouted  to  his 
mate,  in  a  tone  of  mock  solemnity,  '  I  say,  George,  he  grow'd.'  Stewart 
then  discovered  the  reason  why  so  many  eyes  were  turned  to  him,  and 
disappeared  in  the  nearest  hatter's  shop.  This  was  one  of  the  many 
diverting  stories  he  told  against  himself. 


12  STEWART  OF  LOVED  ALE 

Africa,  and  during  the  whole  of  his  student  days 
he  accepted  the  self-limitations  which  such  a  sphere 
imposed.  Often  when  expounding  his  favourite  text, 
'Ethiopia  shall  soon  stretch  out  her  hands  unto  God,' 
he  used  to  emphasise  the  difference  between  the 
Indian  and  the  African,  and  to  point  out  that 
Ethiopia  had  no  ancient  and  highly  organised 
systems  of  caste  and  belief  to  resist  the  solvent 
power  of  Christian  truth.  She  was  a  simple,  un- 
tutored savage,  who  needed  plain,  practical  teaching, 
and  who  was  likely  to  turn  to  God  far  sooner  than 
India  would  do.  He  thus  valued  a  university  educa- 
tion only,  or  chiefly,  in  so  far  as  it  could  fit  him  for 
his  chosen  sphere.  He  could  not  therefore  live  only 
or  chiefly  in  the  world  of  books,  as  scholarship  did 
not  supply  an  adequate  occupation  for  all  his 
energies. 

On  the  altar  of  Ethiopia  he  was  willing  to  offer  up 
much  which  was  precious  to  the  prizeman. 

He  took  then,  and  continued  to  take  through  life, 
an  eager  interest  in  every  department  of  knowledge. 
For  some  time  he  was  examiner  in  Mental  Philo- 
sophy for  the  University  of  South  Africa,  and  his 
books  reveal  a  wide  range  of  study.  He  came  early 
under  the  spell  of  Science,  and  while  a  student  wrote 
several  articles  for  magazines  on  semi-scientific 
themes,  and  was  a  member  of  the  literary  societies. 
His  interests  were  many-sided,  and  he  eagerly 
gathered  general  information.  The  whole  palace 
of  enchanted  thought  was  open  to  him.  He  was 
an  enthusiastic  student  of  Chemistry,  Botany,  Agri- 
culture, and  the  common  ways  of  men.  He  thus 
matriculated  and  graduated  in  the  larger  university 
of  the  World  and  Life.  With  him  the  Art  of  Arts 
was  to  live  well  and  work  well. 


HIS  MISSIONARY  ZEAL  13 

His  leanings  then,  as  through  life,  were  decidedly 
conservative.  This  might  be  partly  due  to  his 
revered  father  and  mother.  He  had  characteristic 
enthusiasm  of  conviction,  great  courage,  and  energy 
of  statement.  He  was  decidedly  opposed  to  theo- 
retical voluntaryism  in  the  relations  between  Church 
and  State.  No  patience  had  he  with  barren  specula- 
tions, and  he  could  not  endure  any  theology  which 
tended  to  impoverish  a  man's  humanity. 

His  studies  did  not  quench  his  missionary  zeal, 
for,  at  St.  Andrews,  he  inoculated  with  it  one  of 
his  cousins  and  pupils,  James  Stewart,  C.E.,  who 
resigned  a  lucrative  post  in  the  Covenanted  Service 
in  India,  that,  at  first  as  an  unpaid  volunteer,  he  might 
aid  the  Livingstonia  Mission.  This  Mr.  Stewart 
laid  out  Blantyre,  and  planned  and  made  part  of  the 
Stevenson  Road,  the  great  highway  of  two  hundred 
and  fifty-four  miles  between  Lakes  Nyasa  and 
Tanganyika.  He  was  a  most  attractive  Christian 
gentleman,  and  his  early  death  was  a  great  bereave- 
ment to  Central  Africa. 

Dr.  George  Wallace,  lately  of  Hamilton,  a  fellow- 
student  with  Stewart  both  at  St.  Andrews  and 
Edinburgh,  thus  writes  about  the  St.  Andrews  days  : 
'  Clear  and  distinct  above  all  other  impressions  he 
made  on  me,  was  the  practical  cast  of  his  mind. 
He  was  a  man  of  deeds,  who  valued  only  what  could 
be  embodied  in  actions.  His  tastes  were  scientific 
rather  than  classical  or  mathematical.  At  that  time 
there  was  little  in  the  university  studies  to  interest 
and  employ  one  whose  leanings  were  towards  natural 
science.  Hence,  though  his  ability  was  well  marked 
in  the  classes  attended  by  him,  he  never  took  the 
place  in  them  which  he  could  easily  have  taken,  if  he 
had  turned  his  whole  energy  in  that  direction.     It 


14  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

seemed  as  if  the  idea  had  taken  possession  of  him 
that  the  life  for  him  was  not  one  for  which  the 
university  curriculum  was  the  best  preparation. 
Even  then  it  was  manifest  that  he  would  not  follow 
the  trodden  ways  of  life,  but  would  strike  out  some 
path  for  himself.' 

Here  is  an  appreciation  of  Stewart,  by  another 
fellow-student  at  St.  Andrews,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Robertson 
of  Whittinghame : — *  Some  of  the  careers  of  my 
fellow-students  have  been  very  unexpected,  some 
pathetic  from  the  strange  mingling  in  them  of 
success  and  failure.  But  of  them  all,  I  have  often 
thought  that  the  life  of  James  Stewart  has  been  that 
by  which  the  best  and  deepest  mark  has  been  made 
on  the  world  and  its  history.  I  could  not  have  fore- 
told this  or  anticipated  it  during  our  college  course. 
We  are  apt  at  that  stage  of  our  lives  to  put  undue 
value  on  the  figure  men  make  in  class  examinations. 
We  do  not  yet  know  how  many  other  qualities  are 
needed  for  effectiveness  in  life,  besides  those  by  which 
college  prizes  are  won.  James  Stewart  was  not  a 
winner  of  college  prizes.  He  took  only  moderate 
and  respectable  positions  in  his  classes.  This  may 
have  been  due  to  his  being  considerably  older  than 
most  of  us,  less  keen  in  regard  to  class  competitions, 
and  already  interested  more  in  the  work  of  life.  He 
had  no  aloofness  either  from  our  class  studies,  or 
from  our  student  fellowships  ;  but  one  felt  that  there 
was  much  more  in  the  man  than  was  put  into  college 
study.  There  was  a  constant  strong  purposefulness 
in  his  character.  He  was  genial — even  humorous ; 
a  cheery  smile  generally  on  his  countenance ;  but 
there  was  a  reserve  of  strength  and  courage,  which, 
one  feels  now,  waited  for  some  great  occasions  to  call 
it  forth.     He  was,  first  and  foremost,  a  man  of  action, 


A  LEADER  OF  MEN  15 

rather  than  a  student.  While  some  of  us  plunged 
into  our  class  work  as  if  it  were  all  we  had  to  think 
of,  everything  he  did,  was,  I  believe,  a  conscious 
preparation  for  life.  I  recollect  being  struck  by 
large  coloured  drawings  of  botanical  subjects  he 
showed  me — a  study  which,  I  understood,  he  was 
carrying  on  privately  in  view  of  possibly  choosing 
a  missionary  career.  Though  he  took  no  prominent 
place  in  his  classes,  we  felt  him  to  be  a  natural  leader 
of  men.  He  was  tall  and  strong  of  frame,  with  fair 
hair,  ruddy  complexion,  aquiline  nose,  and  I  never 
saw  any  one  to  whom  the  epithet  "  eagle-eyed  "  more 
obviously  belonged.  One  little  memory  I  have  of 
him  which  is  quite  in  character.  We  had  a  literary 
society  which  met  for  some  hours  of  debate  and 
fellowship  on  Saturday  evenings.  One  wintry  night, 
snow  lay  on  the  ground,  and  the  streets  were  icy. 
As  we  came  downstairs  at  the  end  of  our  meeting, 
the  whisper  went  round  that  students  of  a  rival 
society  had  arranged  to  snowball  us  severely  and 
make  it  impossible  for  us  to  get  out  from  the  college 
court  by  the  narrow  door  under  the  old  steeple.  The 
enemy  had  indeed  arranged  themselves  all  round 
outside,  with  piles  of  hard  snowballs  ready  for  use 
at  their  feet.  They  were  able  to  make  it  hot  for 
those  who  came  to  the  doorway.  There  was  a 
moment's  halt,  and  I  well  remember  the  voice  of 
James  Stewart  sounding  decisively  in  the  dark, 
'  Let  every  man  provide  himself  with  two  snowballs.' 
We  instantly  charged,  and  sallying  forth  with  him 
as  leader,  in  a  few  seconds  of  time  had  possessed 
ourselves  of  the  heaps  of  snowballs  prepared  by 
our  adversaries,  and  were  pelting  them  as  they  fled. 

'  I  have  fewer  recollections  of  Stewart  then  than 
of  some  others  of  my  fellow-students.     As  he  lived 


1 6  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

with  his  aunt,  we  did  not  haunt  one  another's 
rooms  and  talk  as  students  are  wont  to  do.  At  the 
end  of  our  course  in  Arts  we  were  separated.  Those 
of  us  who  had  associated  intimately  together,  had 
the  ministry  in  view  as  our  future  profession.  The 
larger  number  of  us  being  of  the  Free  Church,  went 
to  study  in  the  New  College,  Edinburgh,  while  the 
smaller  number  remained  at  St.  Andrews,  and  went 
through  St  Mary's  College  under  Principal  Tulloch. 
I  regret  the  loss  of  that  fellowship,  which  was  a  good 
and  helpful  one.  We  were  as  a  company  the  poorer 
for  this  break-up.  And,  so  separate  are  men  kept  in 
their  careers  by  being  in  different  church  organisa- 
tions, we  seldom  met  as  years  went  on,  and  knew 
of  one  another's  course  of  life  only  in  a  vague  and 
irregular  fashion.  But  such  is  the  linking  together 
of  free  congenial  souls  in  that  magic  time  of  college 
life,  such  is  the  endurance  of  these  early  friendships, 
that  any  chance  meeting  in  all  the  life  after  finds  us 
still  the  same  to  one  another  in  genial  openness  and 
frank  affectionateness.  I  afterwards  heard  that 
Africa  had  cast  its  spell  upon  James  Stewart,  or 
perhaps  it  should  be  said,  that  he  felt  Africa  to  be 
the  sphere  of  action  for  which  he  was  fitted,  that 
from  Africa  came  the  call  for  such  powers  as  he  was 
conscious  of — powers  of  hardihood  and  endurance, 
with  stern  joy  in  committing  himself  to  the  toils  and 
hazards  needed  there  for  humanity's  sake.  ...  I  still 
think  that  of  all  the  men  I  knew  in  the  United 
College  at  St.  Andrews,  he  has  made  the  best  and 
deepest  mark  on  the  world.  Though  he  was  preacher 
and  doctor  both,  I  always  thought  of  him  rather  with 
the  kind  of  admiration  with  which  a  home-staying 
student  thinks  of  a  soldier,  an  explorer,  or  man  of 
difficult  affairs.' 


CHAPTER    III 

THE   STUDENT   OF   DIVINITY,    1855-1859 

His  Individuality — His  Stepmother— His  Comrades— His  Club 
— 'Stewart  Africanus' — At  Eriangen — The  Cotton  Famine 
— His  first  two  Books. 

•  Ideals  are  prophesies  that  work  out  their  own  fulfilment.' 

— Bishop  Lightfoot. 

'  Who  climbs  keeps  one  foot  firm  on  fact 
Ere  hazarding  the  next  step.' — Browning. 

'  Pectus  facit  theologum  '  (The  heart  makes  the  theologian). — Amesius. 
( The  motto  of  Tholuck  and  Neander. ) 

Stewart  took  the  ordinary  course  of  four  sessions 
in  the  New  College,  Edinburgh,  the  Divinity  Hall  of 
the  Free  Church  of  Scotland.  His  relation  to  his 
studies  there  was  the  same  as  it  had  been  in  the 
Universities  of  St.  Andrews  and  Edinburgh.  His 
energies,  not  confined  within  the  customary  bounds, 
overflowed  upon  the  adjoining  fields  of  knowledge. 
So  far  as  is  known,  he  did  not  call  any  of  his  pro- 
fessors *  my  master,'  in  the  classical,  exclusive  and 
rich  sense  of  that  term.  But  in  the  middle  of  his 
Divinity  course  he  found  his  master  and  lifelong 
hero. 

Here  is  the  image  of  Stewart  which  lives  in  the 
memories  of  his  surviving  fellow-students. —  Healthy 
in  body,  mind,  and  soul,  he  had  a  passion  for  fact 
and  reality.     Though  a  zealous  idealist,  he  did  not 

B 


i8  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

look  at  present  things  through  the  stained  glass  of 
the  imagination.  He  was  a  good,  whole-hearted, 
practical  Christian  man,  and  free  from  every  petty- 
feeling.  Sometimes  he  seemed  to  be  over-masterful, 
and  he  did  not  always  moderate  his  language  in 
conference  and  controversy.  On  the  Godward  side 
he  had  an  exacting  conscience,  and  sternly  took 
himself  to  task  for  his  failings.  The  devout  life  was 
diligently  cultivated,  and  he  cherished  an  intense 
aversion  to  a  wooden  orthodoxy,  and  a  tottering 
morality  in  alliance  with  a  Christian  profession.  He 
wished  a  thoroughly  practical  theology  which  he 
could  transmit  to  the  heathen,  and  which  would  move 
him  to  transmit  it.  In  every  part  of  his  life  he  was 
profoundly  Christian.  '  I  have  an  impression,'  one 
of  his  fellow-students  writes,  '  of  his  manly,  forcible, 
upright,  and  generous  Christian  character.' 

His  social  nature — '  which  needed  a  little  develop- 
ment'— was  enriched  in  two  directions.  As  his 
father  had  died  during  his  university  course,  for 
some  years  he  lived  with  his  stepmother,  to  whom 
he  was  warmly  attached.  The  comradeship  of  these 
two  was  greatly  admired.  It  was  like  the  relation  of 
an  affectionate  elder  sister  to  a  devoted  younger 
brother.  The  care  of  her  was  a  sacred  duty  to  him, 
and  not  till  he  had  laid  her  body  in  the  grave,  could 
he  say,  '  I  am  now  free  to  go  to  Africa.'  '  I  cannot 
tell  you,'  he  then  wrote,  '  how  this  has  affected  me. 
What  a  world  of  affection  that  woman  lavished  upon 
me.  Now  I  can  never  repay  her.  My  interest  in 
things  has  suddenly  diminished  within  the  last  few 
hours.'  He  adds — '  I  had  formed  what,  no  doubt, 
was  a  rash  resolution,  not  to  go  abroad  while  she 
lived.  .  .  .  This  event  removed  my  self-made  diffi- 
culty and    set   me   strangely  free,  as    I    had    then 


A  STEPMOTHER  19 

neither  father  nor  mother,  sister  nor  brother  alive, 
though  of  the  latter  there  were  at  one  time  five.' 
Some  time  after  the  death  of  his  stepmother,  writing 
to  an  intimate  friend,  he  said,  'For  the  first  few 
weeks  I  dozed  over  the  fire  and  did  nothing.  I 
hardly  thought  that  a  man  in  ordinary  tolerable 
health  could  be  so  stupefied  with  one  stroke  as  to 
forget  half  the  things  he  had  to  do,  and  only  half  do 
what  remained.  ...  I  was  asked  to  come  here 
(Selkirk)  and  was  glad  to  go  where  I  must  work. 
It  will  be  no  fault  of  mine,  I  hope,  if  our  friendship  is 
not  perpetuated.  I  feel  more  every  day  the  need  of 
holding  to  those  old  friends  for  whom  I  care,  and 
for  whom  those  who  are  no  longer  amongst  us  really 
cared,  so  let  us  understand  that  I  wish  the  bond  to 
be  made,  if  possible,  stronger.  You  say  "  God  has 
had  some  wise  end  in  view."  I  believe  He  has, 
though  I  do  not  yet  understand  it.  You  must  not 
think  I  am  complaining.  I  have  felt  as  never  in  my 
life  before  that  it  is  good  that  a  man  should  suffer, 
yet  these  poor  hearts  of  ours  will  have  their  say.  I 
had  often  wished  for  a  few  years  in  which  to  have 
repaid  my  mother  for  all  her  surprising  love.  In  the 
last  letter  I  wrote  to  her  from  Paris,  I  told  her  of 
this.  I  wanted  to  provide  a  quiet  home  for  her,  but 
Despite  all  my  infirmity  of  temper,  some- 
times, too  often  alas,  overcoming  me,  I  loved  my 
mother  and  she  knew  it.  I  loved  her  as  if  she  had 
been  my  own  mother,  but  it  seems  to  me  I  did  not 
love  her  half  enough,  and  God  has  sent  His  rebuke. 
I  must  wait  therefore  till  I  meet  her  in  Heaven,  and 
tell  her  of  my  repentance  on  earth  after  she  left  it. 
It  seems  also  that  I  have  a  tie  now  there,  and  a  real 
piece  of  work  to  be  done  when  I  get  there,  that  I 
never  had  before.' 


20  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

To  Free  Church  students  of  Divinity,  the  New 
College  was  their  Alma  Mater.  The  smaller  number 
was  favourable  to  comradeship,  and  unity  of  convic- 
tion and  aims  created  an  added  sense  of  brother- 
hood. In  such  an  atmosphere  are  formed  the 
friendships  which  last  throughout  life  and  enrich  it. 

Stewart  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  theological 
and  missionary  societies  of  the  New  College,  of 
which  he  was  an  affectionate  alumnus.  He  had 
even  then  the  mysterious  power  of  leadership  and  a 
fertile  initiative.  Several  of  his  St.  Andrews  fellow- 
students  were  with  him  at  the  New  College.  He 
formed  them  into  the  S.A.SC. — the  St.  Andrews 
Students'  Club,  with  the  St.  Andrew's  Cross  for  their 
symbol.  They  had  a  very  beautiful  coat  of  arms 
with  two  mottoes :  '  One  in  Christ '  (in  Greek),  and 
'To  lose  a  friend  is  the  greatest  of  losses'  (in  Latin). 
By  frequent  correspondence,  friendship  was  fostered 
among  the  clubmen  after  they  had  left  Edinburgh, 
and  they  all  agreed  to  do  their  utmost  to  support 
the  mission  to  which  the  founder  of  their  club  had 
devoted  his  life.  Stewart  carefully  kept  these 
memories  alive,  for,  like  the  fuel  in  the  hearth,  they 
preserved  and  radiated  upon  him  the  sunshine  of 
the  past. 

In  after  days,  his  memory  fondly  reverted  to  this 
society,  and  he  maintained  a  fraternal  correspond- 
ence with  several  of  its  members,  and  was  a  loyal 
and  devoted  friend. 

They  met  once  a  week  in  each  other's  rooms,  had 
a  devotional  meeting  every  Saturday  evening,  and 
engaged  in  Home  Mission  work.  Stewart  wrote  a 
booklet  to  be  circulated  by  the  members.  It  was 
based  upon  the  story  of  Felix,  and  entitled  Thoughts 
on  an  Ancient  Narrative^  or,  Circumstances  and  the 


AN  EPOCH-MAKING  IMPULSE  21 

SouPs  Salvation.  With  him,  as  with  Strafford, 
thorough  was  his  motto  in  all  he  did.  This  booklet 
is  carefully  written,  closely  reasoned,  and  well  fitted 
for  its  purpose. 

In  1857  he  received  his  second  great  epoch- 
making  impulse.  The  first  came  to  him  between 
the  stilts  of  the  plough  ;  the  second,  from  the  pages 
of  a  book.  The  Rev.  J.  Macknight  of  Whit- 
burn writes:  'One  Saturday  afternoon  in  1857  I 
had  a  walk  in  the  country  with  James  Stewart.  He 
then  told  me  that  he  had  just  read  Livingstone's 
travels.  He  was  so  fascinated  with  the  book  that  he 
was  busy  tabulating  its  contents.  Chapter  i.  in  his 
notes  was  headed  "  Dr.  Livingstone  as  a  Botanist," 
and  in  the  later  chapters  he  dealt  with  Livingstone 
as  a  zoologist — a  geologist — a  medical  man — an 
explorer — a  missionary — and  a  Christian.  Under 
the  several  heads  he  had  summed  up  quite  an  array 
of  references,  giving  the  subject  and  the  page, 
Livingstone's  many-sidedness  had  amazed  him,  also 
the  extraordinary  wisdom  and  clearness  with  which 
every  topic  was  handled,  and  especially  the  new 
world  of  Africa  which  just  then  was  dawning  upon 
us.  It  would  have  required  a  prophet  to  foretell  the 
issue  of  young  Stewart's  enthusiasm,  but  looking 
back  to  it  now,  across  all  that  he  has  since  done  and 
been,  v/e  can  see  that  he  had  already  found  his  hero 
and  his  function.  If  that  old  notebook  of  his  can 
be  traced,  it  should  be  deposited  in  some  missionary 
museum,  as  a  sacred  memorial  of  our  honoured 
friend.' 

After  this,  '  long  Stewart ' — as  he  was  called  in 
the  easy  colloquial  of  the  college,  to  distinguish 
him  from  another  whose  name  was  '  short  Stuart ' 
— was    known    as    '  Africa    Stewart '    or     '  Stewart 


/y 


22  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

Africanus.'  He  was  cherishing  visions  and  dream- 
ing dreams  about  missions  in  the  heart  of  Africa. 
Some  were  disposed  to  regard  him  as  a  dreamer  and 
a  visionary.  They  could  not  know  that  the  first 
love  of  his  boyhood  had  then  become  a  well-defined, 
overmastering  passion,  which  would  create  for  him 
one  of  the  most  notable  missionary  careers  of  the 
century. 

Dr.  Wallace  thus  recalls  these  days :  *  Along 
with  some  others  and  myself  he  spent  part  of 
the  summer  session  of  1858  at  the  University 
of  Erlangen,^  The  German  students  sampled  us 
Scotchers  and  labelled  us.  He  was  known  as  "  der 
Schotte  mit  dem  grossen  Stock "  (the  Scotchman 
with  the  big  stick).  At  that  time  he  sported 
a  walking-stick  of  formidable  size,  which  rather 
astonished  the  Germans.  They  gave  a  more  correct 
picture  of  the  man  than  they  knew.  He  was 
essentially  a  born  traveller  and  a  pioneer,  a  man  of 
strong  independence  and  firm  resolution,  leaning  on 
his  own  stick,  and  that  a  pretty  sturdy  one,  pre- 
pared to  encounter  difficulties  and  to  surmount  them. 
For  such  a  role  he  was  well  fitted  both  by  bodily 
physique  and  mental  courage.  He  knew  that  he 
had  in  himself  a  reserve  of  fitness  and  strength, 
which  he  had  a  right  to  use,  which\t  was  in  fact  his 
duty  to  use  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  good  of 
mankind.  There  was  something  in  him  vvhich  made 
one  feel  that,  however  unreasonable  his  aim  might 
seem  to  be,  he  himself  must  have  good  reasons  for 
it,  and  that  nothing  on  his  part  would  be  lacking  to 

*  In  Bavaria,  then  one  of  the  most  famous  schools  of  theology,  as 
among  its  professors  were  Delitzsch,  Von  Hofmann,  Thomasius, 
Ebrard  and  Heizog.  Stewart  knew  German  well  and  could  converse 
in  it. 


NEW  AFRICAN  COTTON-FIELDS  23 

bring  about  a  successful  issue.  Let  no  one,  however, 
suppose  that  he  was  moved  by  the  mere  love  of 
adventure  or  by  the  desire  to  do  something  uncom- 
mon, so  that  he  might  get  credit  for  originality. 
The  springs  of  action  in  his  soul  were  connected 
with  a  higher  source.  He  sought  to  hear  the  voice 
of  God  calling  him  to  duty.  Those  who  knew  him 
best  knew  how  earnestly  he  longed  to  serve  God  in 
any  sphere  to  which  he  might  be  called.  He  did 
not  wear  his  religion  on  his  sleeve  where  all  could 
see  it,  but  he  hid  the  word  of  God  in  his  heart  that 
he  might  be  ready  for  obedience  in  the  spirit  of  the 
Apostle  Paul  when  he  asked,  "  Lord,  what  wilt  Thou 
have  me  to  do?  "  ' 

About  the  time  when  he  formed  the  resolve  to  do 
his  utmost  to  plant  a  mission  in  the  districts  opened 
up  by  Livingstone,  his  sympathies  were  drawn  forth 
to  the  myriads  of  mill-workers  in  England  who  were 
suffering  from  the  cotton  famine  caused  by  the  war 
in  the  United  States.  As  he  had  embraced  with  his 
whole  heart  the  idea  of  industrial  missions,  he  had 
the  hope  that  he  might  establish  cotton-fields  in  the 
valleys  of  the  Zambesi  and  the  Shir^,  and  thus  help 
to  secure  work  and  bread  for  the  starving  at  home. 
This  hope  strengthened  his  resolution  to  visit  these 
regions.  He  afterwards  discovered  that  that  part  of 
Africa  was  admirably  suited  for  the  better  varieties 
of  the  cotton-plant,  but  that  it  was  impossible  to 
cultivate  it  as  long  as  slave-raiding  lasted. 

'  More  than  most  men  I  have  known,'  Dr.  Wallace 
writes,  '  he  was  characterised  by  decision  and  self- 
reliance.  He  seemed  to  be  always  looking  ahead, 
and  to  know  what  he  meant  to  be  at.  It  was  some- 
times disconcerting,  in  the  course  of  that  kind  of 
talk  in  which  things  are  said  with  little  meaning,  to 


24  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

be  pulled  up  by  him  with  such  questions  as,  "  What 
do  you  mean  by  that  ?  "  or,  "  What  do  you  intend 
to  accomplish  thereby?"  His  self-reliance  was,  of 
course,  of  the  nature  indicated  by  the  Apostle  Paul, 
when  he  says,  "  Our  sufficiency  is  of  God."  "  I  can  do 
all  things  through  Christ  who  strengtheneth  me." 
Sometimes  it  was  almost  provoking  to  find  him  so 
sure  of  himself,  especially  when  one  was  not  pre- 
pared to  adopt  his  views.  For  in  truth  he  was 
not  always  disposed  to  allow  to  others  the  same 
independence  of  judgment  which  he  claimed  for 
himself.  He  was  so  absorbed  in  looking  at  things 
from  his  own  point  of  view  as  scarcely  to  realise  that 
there  was  another  point  of  view.  But  this  was  part 
of  the  strength  of  the  man,  and  enabled  him  to  accom- 
plish a  life  work  equalled  by  few,  though  I  believe  it 
sometimes  deprived  him  of  the  help  which  others 
would  have  given  as  far  as  they  were  able,  though 
they  could  not  go  as  far  as  he  expected.' 

When  describing  his  New  College  days,  Stewart 
wrote,  '  I  had  also  travelled  a  good  deal,  first,  at  my 
own  expense,  and  a  second  time  through  a  great 
part  of  Europe,  including  Greece  and  Turkey,  with 
two  young  Cambridge  students.'  One  of  these 
writes :  '  We  had  the  greatest  regard  for  him  and 
a  very  vivid  recollection  of  his  sincerity,  kindness, 
and  abilities.  I  have  always  followed  his  dis- 
tinguished and  self-sacrificing  career  with  the 
greatest  interest' 

It  is  fitting  here  to  notice  two  books  by  James 
Stewart,  as  they  were  the  fruitage  of  his  by-studies 
while  a  student.  One  is  a  quarto  and  undated.  Its 
title  is  :  A  Synopsis  of  Structural  and  Physiological 
Botany,  presenting  an  outline  of  the  Forms  and  Func- 
tions of  Vegetable  Life.     It  has  as  its  motto  these 


A  LOVER  OF  BOTANY  25 

words :  '  There  are  many,  even  among  the  educated 
classes,  who  are  in  the  habit  of  regarding  the  botanist 
as  a  dealer  in  barbarous  Latin  names,  as  a  man  who 
plucks  flowers,  names  them,  dries  them,  and  wraps 
them  up  in  paper,  and  whose  whole  wisdom  is  ex- 
pended in  the  determination  and  classification  of  this 
ingeniously  collected  hay.'  (  The  Plafit,  a  Biography, 
by  Schleiden.)  His  introduction  closes  with  these 
words :  '  Above  all,  we  shall  be  more  frequently 
reminded,  not  less  by  the  tiniest  moss  and  spreading 
lichen,  than  by  the  magnificent  palm,  and  still 
mightier  pine,  of  the  power,  the  wisdom,  and  the 
benevolence  of  the  Great  Creator.' 

The  other  book  is  a  folio,  with  the  title  Botanical 
Diagra^ns,  illustrating  the  elementary  tissues,  nutri- 
tive organs,  inflorescence,  and  general  classification. 
It  bears  the  date  of  1857.  He  was  then  half-way 
through  his  theological  studies.  Its  motto  is, 
'  Matter  is  made  for  mind,  and  mind  for  truth  and 
God.'  In  the  introduction  he  says :  '  Much  shall 
have  been  gained  if  any  by  the  examination  of  these 
sheets  may  be  enabled  to  look  with  more  intelli- 
gence or  fresh  pleasure  on  the  matter  of  the  vege- 
table world,  moulded  as  it  is  into  so  many  forms  of 
varied  beauty  by  the  finger  of  the  Almighty.'  Both 
are  published  by  Reynolds,  London,  and  only  one 
bears  the  name  of  James  Stewart.  They  show  wide 
reading,  and  among  the  authorities  quoted  are  many 
French  and  German  authors.  The  pictures  are  very 
numerous,  artistically  drawn,  and  beautifully  coloured. 
They  illustrate  all  the  parts  of  plant  life.  The 
cost  of  producing  these  volumes  must  have  been 
great.  They  were  evidently  a  labour  of  love,  and 
they  were  used  as  text-books  in  Scottish  schools 
and    colleges    for    many    years.      One   of  them    at 


26  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

least  was  sanctioned  by  the  Board  of  Education  for 
use  in  their  schools. 

James  Stewart,  like  Carey,  added  to  the  love  of 
Christ  the  love  of  all  things  beautiful  in  God's  world. 
He  revelled  in  the  poetry  of  earth,  sea,  and  sky, 
adoring  God,  the  Father  Almighty,  'the  Poet  of 
heaven  and  earth.* 


CHAPTER    IV 

THE   PROBATIONER,    i860- 1 865 

The  Theological  Course— A  'Rale  Man'— In  the  Pulpit— His 
Hearers — His  Favourite  Books. 

'  I  can't  feed  people  on  stale  bread.     I  have  not  dealt  in  missionary 
pastry  only,  but  in  the  bread  of  life.' — Coillard. 

'  Study  to  show  thyself  approved  unto  God,  a  workman  that  needeth  not 
to  be  ashamed,  rightly  dividing  the  word  of  truth.' — iV.  Faul  to  Timothy. 

Scottish  Fresbyterianism  demands  a  longer  edu- 
cation for  the  Christian  ministry  than  any  other 
Church,  ancient  or  modern,  has  done.  The  Free 
Church  of  Scotland  from  the  first  duly  appreciated 
sacred  learning,  and  appointed  an  ampler  curriculum 
of  study  than  has  been  adopted  by  any  other  Presby- 
terian denomination.  Its  students  had  to  spend  at 
least  four  years  at  the  University,  and  then  other 
four  at  the  Divinity  Hall.  The  students  did  not 
complain  of  these  eight  long  years,  for  when  it  was 
proposed  to  shorten  the  Divinity  course  to  three 
years,  they  petitioned  against  the  change. 

If  he  pass  the  appointed  examinations  and  trials, 
the  Scottish  student  of  Divinity,  a  few  weeks  after 
leaving  the  Hall,  is  '  licensed  to  preach  the  gospel.' 
He  is  then  called  a  probationer,  a  licentiate,  or  a 
preacher. 

But  James  Stewart  was  never  a  probationer  in 
the  ordinary  sense,  for  he  was  never  on  probation  as 

87 


28  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

a  candidate  for  a  pastoral  charge.  He  was  licensed 
early  in  i860,  and  the  following  five  years  were 
crowded  with  varied  activities.  During  four  of  these 
five  years  he  preached  regularly  in  several  congre- 
gations for  periods  ranging  from  one  month  to  a 
year.  From  1859  to  1861  and  from  1864  to  1866 
he  took  the  full  course  of  medical  study.  During 
two  of  these  years  he  was  also  secretary  in  the 
Cardross  case,  in  which  the  Church  was  brought 
into  the  Law  Courts.  He  thus  became  acquainted 
with  leading  churchmen,  and  gained  a  knowledge 
of  Civil  and  Church  Law. 

The  record  of  his  activities  in  his  probationer 
days  is  not  yet  complete,  for  in  i860  and  1861  he 
originated  the  movement  which  secured  the  planting 
of  Livingstonia,  and  between  1862  and  1864  he 
explored  a  large  part  of  Central  Africa. 

His  appearance  in  the  pulpit  at  once  drew  atten- 
tion and  excited  expectation.  His  style  was  what 
both  his  past  and  his  future  might  lead  us  to  expect 
— completely  evangelical,  very  earnest,  practical,  and 
home-coming.  '  I  do  not  always  fail,'  he  wrote, 
'though  I  esteem  myself  rather  a  dry  stick  in  the 
pulpit.' 

One  writes :  '  I  have  a  lively  recollection  of  his 
supplying,  for  one  month,  the  pulpit  of  Dr.  Bryden 
of  Dunscore  (Dumfriesshire)  during  the  spring  of 
i860.  Mr.  Stewart  was  a  gentleman  of  great  energy, 
being  out  in  the  morning  by  six  o'clock,  with  his 
coat  off  and  his  shirt-sleeves  turned  up,  and  working 
like  a  Trojan,  cutting  out  new  walks  round  the  Free 
Church.  He  had  a  fine  presence,  and  was  a  good 
preacher  with  a  style  of  his  own,  original  and  clear. 
To  my  mind,  he  then  gave  indications  of  future 
greatness.' 


THE  YOUNG  PREACHER  29 

An  old  farmer  in  the  parish  used  to  tell  this 
story,  and  then  added,  '  Ah !  but  yon  was  a  rale 
man.' 

He  was  also  an  assistant  at  Stirling,  Innellan, 
Elgin,  and,  for  two  months,  in  Free  St.  George's, 
Edinburgh. 

In  1864,  during  a  year,  he  occupied  the  pulpit  of 
Free  St.  John's,  Glasgow,  as  assistant  to  Dr.  Rox- 
burgh, the  successor  of  Dr.  Chalmers.  He  must  have 
had  a  wonderful  power  of  impression,  for  some  very 
aged  people  remember  to  this  day  his  individualities 
and  his  texts.  A  correspondent  can  distinctly  recall 
three  of  his  sermons  (after  forty-four  years)  on  the 
texts, '  Set  your  affection  on  things  above,' '  Holiness 
to  the  Lord,'  and  '  Finally,  brethren,  be  perfect'  A 
minister  who,  as  a  boy  in  his  *  teens  '  then  worshipped 
in  Free  St.  John's,  Glasgow,  writes:  'There  was  that 
in  the  personality  of  the  man  that  compelled  atten-  ^ 
tion.  While  entirely  loyal  to  the  great  evangelical 
truths,  he  brought  to  their  handling  what  I  can 
only  characterise  as  a  sort  of  breezy  freshness  that 
seemed  to  put  new  life  into  them.  Admirable  and 
stimulating  as  he  was  as  a  preacher,  Mr.  Stewart 
was  even  more  stimulating  as  a  teacher.  The  young 
folk  in  his  Bible-class  felt  that  they  were  in  contact 
with  a  personality  throbbing  with  power!  Even  then 
'  prophecies  went  before  '  on  him. 

In  1866  he  had  charge  for  six  months  of  Union 
Free  Church,  Glasgow,  which  was  then  without  a 
pastor.  The  Assessor  for  Glasgow  writes :  '  I  have 
a  very  vivid  recollection  of  him  and  his  unique  style 
of  preaching.  I  should  say  that  he  was  more  of  a 
teacher  than  a  preacher.  His  teaching  created  in 
his  hearers  a  desire  for  more  and  more.  Many  of 
the   congregation   would    fain    have   put    back   the 


30  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

hands  of  the  clock  when  he  talked  to  them  of  the 
things  concerning  the  King. 

'  He  would  have  been  unanimously  called  to  the 
pastorate  of  the  flock  had  he  not  told  us  that  he 
must  needs  go  and  preach  the  gospel  in  Dark 
Africa. 

'  When  about  to  leave,  we  had  a  farewell  meeting 
and  gave  him  several  gifts,  among  which  was  a  gun. 
He  said  that  he  would  take  it  with  him  to  Africa, 
but  that  he  would  never  use  it  in  self-defence. 
Kindness  to  the  African  was  the  only  weapon  he 
had  ever  used  or  would  use,  and  it  had  always 
secured  his  safety.^  The  natives  had  often  carried 
his  baggage  over  field  and  flood,  without  money  and 
without  price.  What  Africa  needed  was  men  who 
could  preach  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  practise 
Christ's  law  of  loving  kindness.' 

Another  survivor  of  that  congregation  says  that 
Mr.  Stewart  was  a  very  thoughtful  preacher,  and 
needed  close  attention.  Strength  was  his  chief 
feature,  and  he  was  very  reticent  and  self-possessed. 
He  was  a  thorough  business  man,  and  ready  to  go 
through  fire  and  water  at  the  call  of  duty.  Before 
his  departure  the  Session  put  on  record  '  their  deep 
sense  of  the  value  of  his  ministrations  and  other 
services  so  willingly  rendered.  They  will  always 
look  back  with  gratitude  and  pleasure  on  Mr. 
Stewart's  short  connection  with  them,  and  they  will 
follow  him  on  his  mission  with  their  fervent  prayers.' 

There  has  come  into  my  hands  his  copy  of  Vinet's 
Pastoral  Theology.  The  date  on  it  (i860)  proves 
that  he  studied  it  when  he  began  preaching.  Hun- 
dreds of  its  sentences  are  underlined,  and  scores  of 

'  He  is  here  describing  his  experiences  when  in  the  heart  of  Africa 
with  Livingstone  in  1862  to  1864.     See  chap.  viii. 


A  STUDENT  OF  VINET  31 

pencilled  notes  are  on  its  margins.  The  book  is 
thus  a  piece  of  unconscious  autobiography.  Some 
of  the  jottings  show  that  he  was  at  the  same  time 
closely  studying  Arthur's  Tongue  of  Fire,  and 
Spencer's  Pastor's  Sketches.  These  three  were,  after 
the  Bible,  his  guide-books.  These  notes  reveal  the 
man.  We  may  give  a  few  of  them,  as  books  now- 
adays have  been  made  out  of  the  marginal  notes 
of  great  men.  He  is  a  lynx-eyed  detecter  of  mis- 
takes. It  is  astonishing  how  many  he  finds  in  so 
gifted  a  writer  as  Vinet.  He  decidedly  objects  to 
everything  approaching  the  vague,  the  ambiguous, 
the  irrelevant,  and  the  slipshod — every  phrase,  as 
he  puts  it,  that  might  be  'the  hiding-place  of  a 
fallacy.'  He  heartily  admires  every  lofty  and  prac- 
tical utterance.  Evidently  the  young  probationer  is 
in  thorough  earnest  about  his  work,  and  very  eager 
to  learn. 

Over  against  a  warning  not  to  over-value  the 
beautiful,  and  the  oratorical,  he  writes  :  '  Think 
over  this.  On  this  rock,  J.  S.,  you  may  yet  strike,  if 
you  have  not  already  struck.'  Sentiment  in  religion, 
he  describes  as  '  imagination,  not  conscience,  at 
work.'  Opposite  a  statement  about  economy  of 
time,  he  writes :  'J.  S.  mark  this,  and  act  on  it.' 
Curiously  enough,  anent  Vinet's  saying,  '  I  should 
not  approve  of  agricultural  and  industrial  pursuits ' 
(for  a  pastor),  J.  S.  has  written  :  '  Yes,  clerical  farmers 
and  gardeners  have  an  ambiguous  reputation.' 
Again  he  writes  :  '  We  have  Scyllas  and  Charybdises 
all  the  way  through  the  straits  of  life,  not  as  at 
Messina,  at  the  entrance  only.'  Of  satire,  he  says, 
'  It  can  do  no  good  in  the  pulpit.'  When  Vinet 
says  'there  is  no  artificial  mode  of  acquiring  unction, 
the  oil  flows  naturally  from  the  olive,'  he  adds, '  Mark, 


32  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

learn  and  inwardly  digest  these  two  sentences.' 
Again  he  writes, '  Read  and  re-read  Spencer's  Pastor  s 
Sketches!  About  general  appeals  in  preaching,  he 
remarks,  '  It  is  not  firing  the  gun  often  that  kills, 
but  firing  it  straight  to  the  mark.' 


CHAPTER    V 

THE   GERM   OF   LIVINGSTONIA 

A  Noble  Purpose — His  First  Committee — Self-revelation  — 
Mrs.  Livingstone 

'  The  Kingdom  of  Heaven  is  like  to  a  grain  of  mustard  seed.' 

— Jesus  Christ. 

'  I  HAVE  opened  the  door ;  I  leave  it  to  you  to  see 
that  no  one  closes  it  after  me.'  Such  was  Living- 
stone's appeal  to  his  countrymen  during  his  first 
visit  home  in  1857.  James  Stewart  was  one  of 
those  who  wished  to  push  in  through  that  door, 
keep  it  wide  open,  and  fix  it  to  the  wall.  He  thus 
describes  the  growth  of  the  impulse  which  he  re- 
ceived from  Livingstone  in  1857: — 'It  is  often 
difficult  to  fix  the  precise  date  to  a  purpose  or 
intention  which  may  afterwards  modify  one's  own 
life,  as  well  as  considerably  influence  the  lives  of 
others.  The  first  speck  or  germ  of  the  idea  appears 
on  the  mind  so  quietly  that  little  notice  is  taken  of 
it,  and  its  beginning  is  lost  in  the  mystery  which 
belongs  to  the  origin  of  all  thought.  But  it  was  in 
the  beginning  of  i860  that  this  intention  was  first 
definitely  formed.  The  proposal  was  so  made  at 
that  time,  not  publicly  but  only  to  a  few,  and  for 
consideration  as  to  how  the  scheme  could  be  best 
carried  out.  This  was  the  real  origin  and  first 
commencement    of    what    is    now    known    as    the 

C 


34  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

Livingstonia  Mission.  ...  It  was  no  mere  desire  to 
form  a  new  mission  simply  as  such  which  led  to  the 
proposal  at  the  date  mentioned.  Nor  was  it  because 
I  could  not  go  to  work  in  some  other  field  ;  but 
some  influence,  as  little  capable  of  analysis  as  an 
instinct,  seemed  to  draw  or  push  me  on.  The  idea 
of  the  Livingstonia  Mission  rested  from  the  first  on 
a  broad  base.  Its  outline  or  projection  has  never 
been  altered,  nor  has  that  even  yet  been  completely 
filled  in.  The  first  short  sentence  of  that  remarkable 
Autobiography  of  Dr.  John  Paton,  Missionary  to  the 
New  Hebrides,  runs  thus  :  "  What  I  shall  here  write 
is  for  the  glory  of  God."  I  cannot  strike  so  strong 
and  sweet  a  note,  but  I  can  say  that,  so  far  as  a 
man  may  know  his  own  heart,  the  motive  was  the 
true  missionary  one,  containing  though  it  generally 
does  various  influences,  but  in  which  one  predomin- 
ates and  acts  as  the  combining  element  which  gives 
solidity  to  the  whole.  This  is  all  that  need  be  said 
about  motive,  important  as  it  is  in  missionary  life 
and  in  the  history  of  missionary  effort.' 

Writing  to  one  of  his  fellow-students,  he  said  :  '  If 
we  make  the  Lord's  work  a  pedestal  for  our  own 
vanity,  let  us  be  sure  that  a  downfall  is  awaiting  us. 
Before  his  sacred  cause  the  Dagons  of  self  shall  not 
and  cannot  be  allowed  to  stand.' 

He  urged  the  St.  Andrews  Students'  Club  to  take 
up  Livingstonia.  They  objected  that  they  were  all 
unknown  men.  'That  matters  not,'  he  replied,  'if 
we  are  earnest  men.' 

In  1859  he  intimated  to  the  Foreign  Mission 
Committee  of  his  Church  that  he  and  two  fellow- 
students  were  willing  to  become  missionaries  in  the 
region  which  Livingstone  had  unveiled  to  the  gaze 
of  Christendom.    His  Church  was  not  then  prepared 


AN  ORGANISER  AND  PERSUADER  35 

to  undertake  such  a  mission,  but  its  leaders  were 
interested  in  the  proposal,  and  resolved  to  open 
communication  with  Dr.  Livingstone.  A  list  of 
twenty  queries  was  drawn  up  by  Stewart  and 
forwarded  to  Livingstone  through  the  Foreign 
Office. 

The  ardour  of  Stewart  was  fruitful  in  inventions. 
After  visits  to  Glasgow,  Liverpool,  and  Manchester, 
and  many  persistent  efforts,  he,  single-handed,  suc- 
ceeded in  forming  a  very  influential  committee  of 
eighteen  men,  under  the  title  of '  The  New  Central 
African  Committee,'  'with  the  view  of  turning  to 
practical  account  the  discoveries  of  Livingstone,  and 
to  open  a  new  mission  in  Central  Africa.'  He 
raised  a  considerable  sum  of  money  for  the  initial  / 
expenses,  and  sold  his  patrimony  at  Liberty  Hall, 
near  Haddington,  and  also  the  family  silver-plate, 
and  devoted  the  price  to  the  mission.  The  Com- 
mittee requested  him  to  visit  Central  Africa  on  a 
mission  of  inquiry. 

He  thus  served  a  useful  and  successful  apprentice- 
ship as  an  organiser,  persuader  of  men,  and  an 
inspirer  of  liberality.  He  writes  :  '  The  first  efforts 
connected  with  this  mission  occupied  me  more  than 
a  year.' 

Here  is  a  student — for  he  seems  to  have  started 
his  scheme  before  he  was  licensed — without  academic 
fame  or  social  influence,  unknown  and  untried,  who 
has  nothing  but  himself  to  begin  with,  and  yet  he 
gets  some  twenty  leading  professors,  ministers,  and 
laymen  to  believe  in  him,  to  accent  his  leadership, 
and  support  him  in  his  perilous  enterprise.  Probably 
no  mere  student  or  probationer  ever  had  success 
like  this.  Here  is  proof  of  originality,  resolution, 
and  a  remarkable  gift  of  persuasiveness.     Even  then 


36  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

he  revealed  his  extraordinary  power  of  interesting 
and  impressing  people  of  all  classes. 

Stewart's  biography  here  widens  into  history,  and 
history  of  the  noblest  kind,  for  his  ideas  have  helped 
to  make  Central  and  Southern  Africa  what  it  is 
to-day.  As  the  origins  of  great  movements  interest 
every  thinker,  a  few  extracts  from  Stewart's  letters 
at  this  time  will  be  welcome.  Writing  to  Principal 
Douglas  of  Glasgow,  in  December  i860,  he  says: 
'  I  hope  that  better  days  are  in  store  for  Africa,  and 
that  you  may  see  your  way  to  "  deal  out  the  rope  " 
in  this  country,  while  we  go  down  to  help  them  who 
now  live  in  such  deplorable  darkness.  This  matter 
may  possibly,  by  God's  blessing,  in  due  time  bear  its 
appropriate  fruit.  In  the  meantime  I  am  carrying 
on  some  medical  studies,  with  the  view  of  fitting 
myself  for  African  work  more  fully.  But  as  I  do 
not  wish  to  be  a  mere  student  all  my  days,  I  have 
accepted  a  proposal  made  to  me  by  the  Committee 
on  the  Cardross  Case  to  act  as  their  secretary.  I 
am  inclined  to  "  buckle  to  this  business  "  with  a  will, 
as  the  interests  it  involves  are  very  serious.  I  hope 
it  may  be  all  over  before  the  mission  to  the  Zambesi 
is  ready  to  start.  In  promoting  the  great  ends  of 
the  everlasting  Gospel,  we  have  need,  however  (at 
least  I  sometimes  feel  so),  to  pray  that  our  zeal  and 
our  convictions  shall  not  "  borrow  their  strength 
from  the  spirit  of  contention,"  as  Vinet  expresses  it. 
However,  it  is  surely  a  symptom  of  health  in  the 
scheme  that  it  only  gathers  strength  from  opposition. 
I  have  noticed  this  more  than  once  during  the  past 
twelve  months.  Prudence  and  common-sense  must 
be  constantly  exercised,  while  that  is  kept  far 
enough  removed  from  what  is  implied  in  the  phrase, 
"  managing  men."     I   have  rather  a  detestation  of 


MRS.  LIVINGSTONE  37 

that,  and  in  the  long-run  I  think  it  commonly  fails  ; 
for  men  sooner  or  later  perceive  your  game,  and  if 
you  have  no  other  hold  of  them,  they  go  off  alto- 
gether.^ I  thank  you  most  sincerely  for  all  your 
good  wishes  and  hearty  expressions  of  sympathy. 
These  things  all  help  to  make  a  man  stronger :  so 
also  do  the  prayers  of  Christian  friends.  Let  the 
result  of  all  be  as  you  say — "  the  salvation  of  souls 
and  the  honour  of  Christ."  ' 

At  Mrs.  Livingstone's  request,  he  delayed  a  month 
that  she  might  accompany  him,  as  she  wished  to 
rejoin  her  husband.  Dr.  Livingstone  was  then 
British  Consul-General  in  the  Zambesi  district,  and 
Commander  of  the  Expedition  to  explore  Central 
Africa,  with  a  view  '  to  suppress  slavery  and  develop 
the  country.' 

1  These  words  reveal  a  principle  which  guided  him  through  life, 
and  was  one  of  the  secrets  of  his  phenomenal  success  in  securing 
confidence,  eliciting  sympathy,  and  drawing  out  liberality. 


CHAPTER    VI 

ON    THE   WAY 
From  Glasgow  to  Cape  Town,  July — November  1861. 

^Journal  Intime — At  Sea — In  Cape  Town — Discouragements 
— Self-examination — Preaching — Determination. 

'  I  have  no  other  fear  in  the  world  but  that  I  may  not  know  my  whole 
duty  or  fail  to  do  it.' — Epitaph  on  a  Lady's  Tomb. 

'  He  goes  farthest  who  does  not  know  how  far  he  means  to  go. ' 

— African  Proverb. 
'  Prudence  leans  to  the  other  side, 
But  deeds  condemned  by  Prudence  oft  have  sped,' 
— Lines  affixed  by  Dr.  Stewart  to  the  first  page  of  his  Journal. 

'  Travel  in  the  younger  sort  is  a  part  of  education  ;  in  the  elder,  a  part 
of  experience. ' — Bacon . 

Stewart  left  a  large  and  carefully  written  Journal, 
which  is  a  mirror  of  his  soul,  between  1861  and  1863. 
The  greater  part  of  the  information  in  this  and  the 
three  following  chapters  has  been  gleaned  from  this 
Journal  Intime,  in  which  he  seems  to  have  collected 
materials  for  a  book  on  Africa  and  its  missions. 

I  am  also  indebted  to  Dr.  Stewart's  Daiv7i  in  the 
Dark  Continent ;  Livingstonia,  its  Origin  ;  and  four 
Articles  in  the  Sunday  Magazine  o{  i?)"/^  and  1875 
on  '  Recollections  of  Dr.  Livingstone  and  the 
Zambesi ' ;  The  Narrative  of  an  Expedition  to  the 
Zambesi  and  its  Tributaries,  by  David  and  Charles 
Livingstone  ;  and  Dr.  Blaikie's  Personal  Life  of 
Livingstone. 

88 


CROSSING  THE  LINE  39 

On  6th  July,  1861,  Mrs.  Livingstone  and  James 
Stewart  sailed  from  Southampton  in  the  Royal  Mail 
Steamer  Celt. 

He  writes  :  '  What  shall  be  the  result  of  this  long 
journey  I  know  not.  I  feel  already  the  weight  of 
the  many  difficulties  that  lie  before  me,  and  yet  I 
hardly  feel  as  if  all  this  will  go  for  nought.  The 
Lord  alone  knoweth.  Let  me  be  less  anxious  about 
success  than  about  being  faithful.  I  will  commit  my 
way  to  Him,  He  will  bring  it  to  pass  in  His  own 
time.  I  will  stay  myself  on  God,  for  in  a  journey  like 
this  there  cannot  be  any  other  security,  any  other 
source  of  success.' 

*•  Friday,  July  12. 
'  O  God,  give  Thou  the  wisdom — the  guidance  I 
need.  Thou  hast  led  so  far,  lead  me  the  rest  of  the 
way,  and  let  such  work  be  done  as  shall  be  to  the 
praise  of  Thy  name  and  Thy  grace,  and  such  as  shall 
make  known  also  Thy  purposes  of  grace  and  mercy 
to  men  on  earth.' 

'July  18. 
'  Yesterday  I  began  to  see  that  if  my  spiritual  life 
is  to  be  altered  in  any  way  for  the  better,  I  must  be 
a  "  Methodist"  in  my  religion  :  I  must  observe  rule 
and  method.  I  must  watch  and  pray.  I  must  read 
at  stated  times,  and  of  a  certain  quality.' 

'July  26. 
'To-day  we  crossed  the  line — that  momentous 
passage  in  all  sea-voyages.  Shall  I  live  to  cross  it 
again  and  again,  to  run  to  and  fro  on  my  Master's 
work.  Spare  me,  O  God,  for  this  if  it  be  Thy  will. 
Give  me  days  to  do  Thy  work  on  earth — worthless, 
wild,  and  wayward  though  I  be.  .  .  .  This  evening 


40  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

we  commenced  worship  in  the  aft  end  of  the  saloon. 
It  is  true  we  had  to  break  up  a  card  party  to  get  at 
it,  even  though  it  was  half-past  nine.  It  has  been  a 
cause  of  satisfaction  to  most  that  this  step  has  been 
taken.  It  required  a  good  deal  of  careful  survey  of 
the  ground  previously.  ...  I  discovered  among  the 
many  papers  at  the  end  of  my  Bible  a  motto  in  my 
mother's  handwriting.  Her  affection  to  me  was 
strong  as  death.  Lest  that  precious  little  fragment 
should  ever  be  lost,  let  me  here  transcribe  it : 
'"Be 

' "  Thou  faithful  unto  death  and  I  will  give  thee  a 
crown  of  life." ' 

'^August  2. 

'  The  conversation  at  the  upper  end  of  the  table 
still  continues  to  be  the  most  wonderful  prattle  that 
grown  men  with  beards  can  indulge  in.  It  is  most 
wearisome  indeed  to  listen  to.' 

Prayers  were  read  on  the  morning  of  Sunday,  and 
Mr.  Stewart  had  a  service  with  the  sailors  in  the  fore- 
castle. He  prepared  for  these  services  very  carefully. 
On  13th  August,  1 861,  he  reached  Cape  Town.  The 
following  is  the  entry  in  his  Journal  for  that  day : — 

^August  13. 
'  This  should  be  a  red-letter  day.     To-day  I  first 
sighted  African  land — the  probable,  or  at  least  the 
possible,  future  land  of  my  labours.' 

During  this  voyage  he  read  books  of  travel,  theo- 
logy, and  general  literature.  He  also  studied  missions, 
especially  those  of  the  Moravians,  and  was  attracted 
by  the  idea  of  a  self-supporting  mission.  He  had 
an  eager  eye  for  everything  that  might  help  him  in 
mission-work.  Now  and  again  he  vfxotQ perdidi  diem 
and  dies  non. 


AT  CAPE  TOWN  41 

Mrs.  Livingstone  and  Mr.  Stewart  had  to  wait  fully 
three  months  in  Cape  Town  before  they  could 
arrange  for  their  voyage  to  Durban.  These  three 
months  were  in  many  ways  extremely  trying  to  him, 
for  they  brought  many  bitter  experiences.  He  kept 
himself  occupied  in  many  ways.  He  seems  to  have 
been  almost  daily  at  the  Dispensary  and  the  Hos- 
pitals, increasing  and  using  his  medical  knowledge. 
One  of  his  amusements  was  to  practise  at  the  shoot- 
ing-range. His  prophetic  spirit  whispered  to  him 
that  he  would  need  skill  as  a  marksman.  He 
preached  in  all  the  Protestant  churches,  except  the 
Episcopal,  and  took  part  in  many  public  meetings. 
His  services  and  addresses  were  carefully  prepared 
and  often  written  in  full.     He  thus  refers  to  them: — 

'  In  future  put  less  matter  in  my  sermons  and  come 
sooner  to  the  practical  application.  Let  there  be 
less  thought  and  more  feeling,  more  home-thrusts  to 
the  conscience.' 

^August  31. 
'  The  criticism  of  the  Alail  is  exceedingly  friendly, 
but  would  to  God  it  were  intellectual  and  spiritual 
fervour  instead  of  "  intellectual  fervour  "  alone.  But 
my  motive  is  pure,  and  there  I  must  leave  the  matter. 
I  would  rather  have  one  conversion  than  any  amount 
of  praise,  even  of  the  most  public  kind.  But  if  I 
cannot  do  all  things,  I  can  at  least  do  my  best.' 

'  September  29. 
'  This  evening  I  preached  to  a  not  very  large  con- 
gregation. I  was  very  thoroughly  awake  myself, 
but  at  present  I  am  in  doubt  as  to  the  effect  pro- 
duced. The  attention  was  very  marked  and  the 
silence  considerable.  O  that  God  would  bless  the 
word.     May  I  serve  Him,  soul  and  body.' 


42  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

On  leaving  Cape  Town  he  wrote :  '  I  have  also 
gained  some  confidence  in  myself,  and  some  experi- 
ence in  the  way  of  speaking,  and  also  some  experience 
medically,  and  some  knowledge  of  my  own  folly  and 
weakness.  There  have  been  drawbacks.  I  might 
have  done  very  much  more,  if  I  had  lived  more 
carefully,  if  I  had  improved  my  time  more  con- 
scientiously.' 

Like  Livingstone,  he  refreshed  himself  by  the 
study  of  Botany  and  Natural  History.  He  often 
studied  the  plants  in  the  Gardens  and  explained 
them  to  Mrs.  Livingstone.  '  I  went,  according  to  my 
wont  when  bothered,  to  the  Botanic  Gardens  to  try 
the  cooling  effect  of  a  little  Botany.  I  am  glad  I 
have  this  study  to  take  to  at  times.' 

He  was  astonished  to  find  in  the  educational 
room  of  the  Library  a  copy  of  his  Botanical  Diagrams. 
'What  would  my  good  mother  have  said,  had  she 
known  that  these  would  travel  to  the  Cape  before  me.' 

Memories  of  home  often  rushed  in  upon  him. 
'This  is  the  memorable  20th  of  August.  What 
memories  and  associations  cluster  round  the  day. 
O  my  mother,  had  I  better  known  the  priceless  value 
of  that  affection,  how  different  it  might  have  been. 
The  20th  of  August  last  year  too.  Does  it  not  seem 
as  if  God  so  far  were  looking  favourably  on  the 
enterprise.  With  what  fear  and  doubting  and  with 
how  little  knowledge  of  the  way  was  I  then  groping 
for  light.  Perhaps  another  year  will  have  dispelled 
much  of  the  present  darkness  and  shown  things  in  a 
clearer  light.' 

In  Cape  Town  all  sorts  of  discouragements  as- 
sailed him  at  once.  His  friends  thought  that  he  was 
likely  to  die  soon  of  consumption,  and  his  figure 
and  complexion  were  then  fitted  to  suggest  such  a 


DISCOURAGEMENTS  43 

danger.  *  To-day  Mrs.  L.  spoke  of  the  opinion  of 
some  of  my  friends  in  Edinburgh,  who  thought  1 
should  die  of  consumption  before  I  get  back.  I  hope, 
however,  I  shall  live  to  return  to  Scotland.' 

'  About  myself  I  learned  that  the  opinion  of  Cape 
Town  is  that  my  health  will  not  stand  the  work  I 
have  undertaken.  .  .  .  Kirk  had  heard  before  he 
came  ashore  of  "  Mr.  Stewart,  who  was  tall  and 
slight  and  with  hollow  cheeks,"  but  what  an  ex- 
cellent preacher!     I  get  my  share  of  public  notice.' 

A  brig  had  been  hired  to  convey  from  Durban  a 
mission  party  to  Bishop  Mackenzie's  Universities' 
Mission  on  the  Shir^,  and  it  had  been  arranged  that 
Mrs.  Livingstone  and  Stewart  should  get  a  passage 
along  with  them.  Very  great  efforts  were  made  to 
prevent  Stewart  from  reaching  the  Zambesi.  He 
was  assured  that  he  could  not  gain  entrance  to 
Zambesiland,  and  he  was  told  that  Livingstone 
would  not  welcome  or  help  him.  The  Bishop  of 
Cape  Town  urged  these  views  and  offered  him  a  free 
passage  to  England.  Efforts  were  made  to  persuade 
Mrs.  Livingstone  to  separate  from  Stewart,  and  to 
proceed  to  the  Zambesi  with  the  Episcopal  party ; 
but  she  declared  she  would  not  go  one  step  unless 
he  accompanied  her.     He  writes  :  '  Mrs.  Livingstone 

spoke  in  a  way  not  to  be  mistaken — assuring  L 

that  if  I  did  not  go  on,  she  would  not  stir  from  Cape 
Town.  Here  she  stood  bravely  by  me.  I  will 
remember  her  words  and  how  she  came  to  the 
rescue.' 

But  for  her  resolution,  he  should  probably  have 
been  stranded  at  Cape  Town.  The  Episcopalians 
did  not  wish  him  to  reach  the  Zambesi,  as  they 
thought  that  priority  of  occupation  gave  them  a 
right  to  the  whole  of  Zambesiland,  which  within  a 


44  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

few  months  they  were  to  abandon.  Stewart  had 
then  his  first  experience  of  that  amazing  arrogance 
which  many  churchmen  mistake  for  catholicity. 
The  Portuguese  Consul  in  Cape  Town  spread  a 
rumour  that  he  was  a  hypocritical  trader  in  the 
guise  of  a  missionary,  and  that  he  had  vast  quan- 
tities of  beads  which  he  wished  to  sell  among  the 
natives.  This  monstrous  lie  found  favour  in  some 
quarters,  though  he  was  not  aware  of  its  existence 
till  he  reached  Durban.  Others  further  injured  his 
reputation  by  circulating  scandalous  stories  about 
him. 

His  financial  experiences  when  laying  in  his  stores 
were  also  very  unhappy,  and  suggested  the  following 
entry  in  his  Journal :  '  Let  me  try  every  day  to  be  on 
my  guard,  to  take,  though  it  is  against  my  nature 
sadly,  every  man  for  a  rogue  till  I  find  him  an  honest 
man.  Remember  also  that  more  is  gained  in  this 
world  by  dexterity  than  by  strength.' 

The  endless  delays  were  wearing  out  his  spirit, 
and  his  money  was  melting  away.  The  sorest  trial 
of  all  was  the  fact  that  from  the  time  he  left  Scot- 
land till  he  reached  Livingstone,  not  one  single 
individual  gave  him  the  slightest  encouragement. 
Even  the  friends  of  missions  thought  that  his  quest 
could  bring  only  failure  and  disaster.  One  esteemed 
friend  frankly  declared  that  he  '  would  have  nothing 
to  do  with  such  a  scheme,'  and  that  the  whole  thing 
'  was  a  matter  of  moonshine.'  Mrs.  Livingstone 
agreed  with  them  in  thinking  that  the  obstacles  were 
insuperable,  and  that  he  should  abandon  the  attempt. 
Livingstone  was  the  first  man  who  gave  him  hearty 
encouragement,  though  the  friends  in  Cape  Town 
had  filled  his  mind  with  fears  about  Livingstone's 
attitude  to  him. 


CHRISTIAN  HEROISM  45 

Is  it  possible  that  any  pioneer  missionary  has 
ever  had  greater  discouragements  than  these?  He 
dived  into  his  own  heart  and  thoroughly  examined 
his  motives  ;  he  faced  all  the  facts  ;  he  devoted  him- 
self afresh  to  the  work,  and  resolved  to  go  forward 
without  hesitation.  His  Christian  heroism  was  sub- 
lime, and  his  Journal  and  his  actions  reveal  the  man, 
his  intense  struggles  and  his  victories.  We  turn 
again  to  his  Journal :  '  I  do  not  see  how  an  entrance 
is  to  be  made  into  the  interior.  I  do  not  see  where 
the  door  is  to  be  opened.  And  yet  at  this  time  last 
year,  surely  the  prospects  of  the  missions  were  black 
enough.  No  man  stood  by  me.  And  oh !  these 
miserable  weeks.  And  yet  I  must  confess  that  it  is 
by  faith  only  that  I  can  see  my  way  even  now. 
What  a  whole  host  of  difficulties  lie  in  the  way ! 
"  Hell's  empire  vast  and  grim  "  is  well  defended  by 
all  manner  of  outpost  and  fortified  positions. 

'In  talking  with  Mrs.  Livingstone  I  said  that  even 
to  myself  my  life  is  an  enigma.  I  am  not  such  a 
fool  surely  as  to  throw  away,  or  to  have  already  done 
so,  chances  which  may  never  occur  again.  I  might 
have  been  comfortably  settled  by  this  time  with  a 
snug  income  and  regular  work  befitting  my  taste 
and  agreeing  with  me.  And  yet  how  difficult  is  my 
position  !  What  difficulties  I  am  about  to  encounter, 
what  disgusts  to  become  acquainted  with,  what 
disappointments  to  meet.  I  cannot  say  anything 
till  I  have  seen  further  into  the  scheme.  Meantime 
let  me  go  on  in  faith.  If  I  had  not  very  much  of 
this  I  could  not  go  on.  I  feel  safe  in  the  path  until 
my  work  in  it  is  done.  I  have  a  firm  belief  in  the 
guiding  providence  of  God. 

'  In  talk  with  Mr. ,  I  find  the  very  same  wise, 

significant  look,  "  We  know,  we  would,  etc.,"  which  is 


46  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

intended  to  signify  that  my  errand  is  a  wild  goose 
chase,  that  the  results  are  too  far  distant,  that  we 
shall  all  be  dead  men  before  any  fruit  appears,  and 
that  there  is  little  to  be  expected,  even  after  fifteen 
or  twenty  years'  work.^  .  .  .  Let  me  do  this  work  as 
for  Christ,  let  me  do  it  with  all  my  might.  So  help 
by  the  Spirit  of  grace  and  wisdom,  my  great  Master, 
my  blessed  Saviour,  Lord  Jesus.  What  is  there  I 
cannot  do  if  Thou  wilt  help  me  and  give  me  grace 
to  be  faithful  ?  In  God's  strength  I  will  go  humbly 
on,  resolved  to  succeed  or  to  lose  all  in  the  attempt. 
'  But  let  me  not  grumble.  It  is  all  the  better  that 
I  rise  above  men  and  know  no  master  save  one, 
Jesus  Christ.  Let  me  strive  and  watch  till  I  awake 
satisfied  with  His  likeness.  To-day  I  have  been 
feeling  the  isolation  and  loneliness  of  my  position 
ver)''  much.  As  I  sat  drawing,  I  was  startled  at  my 
own  audacity.  What !  you,  J.  S.,  to  move  the  whole 
Free  Church  or  even  the  whole  of  Presbyterian 
Scotland  to  found  a  mission  in  Central  Africa, 
having  for  its  object  the  enlightenment  of  a  great 
part  of  the  east  of  the  Continent !  I  have  been,  and 
am  at  this  moment,  obliged  to  fall  back  on  my 
primary  supports.  I  need  to  look  at  my  purpose  in 
all  its  greatness  to  obtain  the  necessary  standing. 
My  position  is  this.  The  country  is  undeveloped  ; 
I  am  waiting  here  for  an  opportunity  of  proceeding, 
and  wait  long.  Delay  is  sickening.  It  seems  as  if 
there  were  no  need.  Why  not  wait  till  the  country 
is  developed  ?  Against  this  let  me  place  the  fact 
that  if  once  the  boundaries  are  extended,  they  will 

^  His  feelings  were  like  those  of  his  friend  General  Gordon  when  on 
the  White  Nile.  He  thought  that  the  storks  in  the  islands  were 
laughing  at  and  mocking  him,  as  if  highly  amused  at  the  idea  of  any 
body  hoping  to  do  good  at  Gondokoro. 


ABIDING  INSPIRATIONS  47 

be  filled  up.  It  must  be  done  by  some  man.  I 
mean  the  old  frontiers  must  be  extended.  If  it  is  to 
be  my  lot — and  it  seems  to  be  very  clearly — let  me 
take  my  work  like  a  man.  Let  me  do  it  though  I 
die.  To-day  I  have  been  obliged  to  fall  back  on 
some  strong  and  never-failing  aid.  This  evening  I 
had  to  seek  a  verse  wherewith  to  fortify  myself.  I 
found  it.  "Commit  thy  way  unto  the  Lord,  trust 
also  in  Him  and  He  shall  bring  it  to  pass."  When  I  / 
read  a  little  and  pray,  I  receive  new  strength,  and  the 
burden  becomes  perceptibly  lighter.  Let  me  not 
forget  this,  but  often  practise  it,  for,  J.  S.,  you  will 
yet  have  great  need. 

'  But  is  there  not  some  very  considerable  advan- 
tage in  thus  feeling  myself  charged  with  the  whole 
responsibility  of  this  stupendous  piece  of  work  ? 
Aye,  surely.  If  I  had  not  many  times  felt  that  on 
my  own  shoulders  I  carried  the  fate  and  fortunes  of 
a  possible  mission,  I  should  not  have  been  here  to- 
day. God  give  me  strength  and  power  for  all  my 
work,  whatever  that  may  be.' 

Writing  of  many  discouragements,  he  says  :  '  If  my 
aim  and  purpose  were  sustained  by  an  earthly 
motive,  or  were  it  for  an  earthly  master,  long  since 
should  my  purpose  have  failed.  But  I  look  higher, 
to  the  wants  of  a  great  proportion  of  the  race  and  to 
the  will  of  Christ.  ...  It  seems  that  some  appalling 
charges  are  about  to  be  brought  against  me.  I  went 
to  bed  as  one  stunned  and  confounded.  ...  I  feel 
still  as  if  some  strange  nightmare  were  oppressing 
me.  .  .  .  But  the  conclusion  to  which  I  have  come 
is  this — I  must  do  my  work  without  minding  what 
any  one  says.  I  shall  let  them  all  alone.  I  am 
sufficient  in  myself.  .  .  .  The  best  thing  for  me  to 
do  is  to  go  on  calling  no  man  master.     My  trust 


48  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

must  be  in  the  fact  that,  so  far  as  I  can  perceive, 
I  am  in  the  way  of  duty,  and  that  my  life  is 
worth  only  so  much  as  it  is  worth  to  the  cause, 
1  may  therefore,  and  ought  indeed  to  school  my- 
self to  become  perfectly  without  fear,  be  as  cool 
in  the  surging  bar  of  the  Kongoni,  as  if  I  were  in 
my  bed  here  or  in  Grove  Street,  Edinburgh.  Let 
me  seek  after  this  to  face  death  as  a  likely  thing 
every  day,  and  fear  will  depart.  I  cannot  say  that 
even  as  it  is  I  am  much  troubled.  Still  let  me  ever 
drill  myself  to  that — if  I  must  part  with  life,  good 
and  well.  Its  fever  will  be  over.  I  will  then  enter 
into  rest,  which  I  have  not  known  on  earth,  though  I 
have  often  longed  for  it.  .  .  .  But  it  is  enough  for 
me  that  I  look  forward  to  the  rest  I  shall  find  when 
my  soul  is  received  by  God  my  Father  into  the 
peace  and  purity  of  the  other  life.  If  I  can  but  find 
when  I  enter  His  presence  at  the  moment  of  de- 
parture from  this  life,  that  all  ray  sins  are  eternally 
forgotten  by  Him,  that  He  receives  me  as  a  son 
returned  to  His  father  from  his  wanderings  in  the 
sin  and  folly  of  Time  to  be  eternally  with  Him,  never 
once  to  offend  or  grieve  Him,  always  to  serve  Him 
as  I  wish  to  serve  Him,  but  cannot  by  reason  of  the 
evil  that  lives  within  me.  I  have  not  for  long  felt 
more  willingness  to  leave  life  whenever  He  shall  call 
me.  No  doubt  some  of  this  is  due  to  weariness  and 
depression,  but  not  all.  Oh,  surely  heaven  will  be 
rest  indeed  when  I  read  in  my  Father's  face  the 
signs  of  full  and  perfect  forgiveness,  and  am  sure 
that  He  will  never  cast  me  off,  when  He  receives  me 
as  a  son  whom  He  will  keep  for  ever  in  the  light  of 
His  presence.  Give  me  strength  and  grace  to  be 
faithful.' 

To  one  of  his  fellow-clubmen  he  wrote,  '  I   got 


A  CUP  OF  COLD  WATER  49 

your  letter  before  I  left  Cape  Town.  Like  a  draught 
of  water  from  some  cool  fountain  hidden  in  the 
shadow  of  a  great  rock,  to  the  wearied  traveller  who 
has  been  toiling  through  burning  sands  and  under  a 
blazing  sun,  was  that  draught  of  old  friendship  to 
my  soul.' 


D 


CHAPTER    VII 

FURTHER    ON    THE   WAY 

From  Cape  Town  to  the  Zambesi 
November  15,  1861,  to  February  i,  1862. 

At  Durban  —  Evil  Reports  —  His  Stock  of  Beads  — Vexing 
Delays — Visions  of  Home — At  Quilimane — With  Living- 
stone— Satisfied. 

'  The  end  of  the  geographical  feat  is  only  the  beginning  of  the  missionary 
enterprise. ' — Livingstone. 

'O  Lord,  send  me  to  the  darkest  spot  on  earth.' — John  Mackenzie, 
Missionary  and  Statesman. 

'Never.' — The  reply  of  Mackay  of   Uganda  when  it  was  proposed  to 
abandon  the  Mission. 

On  November  15th  Mrs.  Livingstone  and  Mr. 
Stewart  sailed  fron:i  Cape  Town  in  the  Waldensian. 
Along  with  them  were  the  Universities'  mission 
party,  which  consisted  of  one  ordained  missionary, 
four  ladies,  and  the  printer  to  the  mission.  These 
were  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  George  Rae,  the 
chief  engineer  of  Livingstone's  Zambesi  Expedition. 
They  arrived  in  Durban  on  November  21st,  and  had 
to  wait  there  for  the  Hetty  Ellen,  a  brig  which  was 
bringing  from  Glasgow  Dr.  Livingstone's  Lady 
Nyasa  (an  iron  steamer  in  sections),  which  he 
intended  to  launch  on  Lake  Nyasa. 

The  Hetty  Ellen  arrived  in  Durban  after  a  passage 
of  ninety-nine  days  from  Glasgow.     The  party  had 

60 


IN  THE  FURNACE  51 

to  spend  nearly  five  weeks  in  Durban,  which  had 
then  between  a  thousand  and  fifteen  hundred  whites, 
and  its  streets  were  only  straggling  paths  over  unen- 
closed fields. 

Stewart  was  very  active  during  this  period ; 
preaching  often  ;  visiting  on  horseback  nearly  all 
the  Protestant  missions  within  fifty  miles  of  Durban ; 
gathering  and  arranging,  as  his  Journal  shows,  ample 
information  about  the  natives,  missionary  methods, 
and  the  conditions  of  the  country. 

From  Durban  he  writes:  'It  will  be  a  great  shame 
if  I  do  not  write  a  good  book  full  of  facts  and 
graphic  descriptions.  If  it  be  true  that  every  man 
has  his  opportunity,  I  have  mine.  If  I  miss  it,  I 
shall  not  have  another.' 

This  book  was  never  written.  The  making  of 
history  during  the  coming  years  left  him  no  time 
for  writing  it.  There  are  not  many  Caesars  who 
can  do  both. 

All  the  trials  that  harassed  him  in  Cape  Town 
now  came  back  upon  him  in  an  aggravated  form. 
His  clothes  were  threadbare,  his  funds  were  low, 
and  he  began  to  fear  that  ere  long  he  should  be 
without  daily  bread. 

'  I  am  worried,  wearied  with  anxiety,  concerned 
about,  not  great  pay,  but  mere  bread.  I  have  my 
character  slandered,  my  motives  misconstrued.  How 
terrible  will  be  the  blow  if  I  have  to  turn  back  and 
go  home  without  having  accomplished  anything. 
O  God,  save  me  from  this  humiliation.' 

Expected  letters  from  home  did  not  arrive :  it 
seemed  as  if  his  friends  had  forgotten  him.  He  was 
confounded  by  learning  that  the  Portuguese  Consul 
in  Cape  Town  had  persuaded  many  that  he  was  a 
rogue  and  a  vagabond.     Shameful  things  had  been 


52  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

imputed  to  him,  as  was  well  known  among  influ- 
ential people  in  Durban.  His  situation  was  now 
more  alarming  than  it  had  been  in  Cape  Town,  for 
he  could  sail  in  the  Hetty  Ellen  only  by  favour  of 
those  who  were  determined  to  keep  him  back  if 
they  could. 

'  Went  on  board  the  Hetty  Ellen.  Captain  told 
me  he  would  have  some  difficulty  in  taking  me  on, 
that  he  could  not  do  so  unless  with  the  sanction  of 
the  "  other  party."  .  .  .  Both  yesterday  and  to-day 
they  (the  other  party)  had  been  on  board  and  did 
their  utmost  to  get  him  to  leave  me  behind.  I 
asked  him  what  charge  they  could  bring  against 
me.  He  gave  no  answer  to  this.  He  regretted 
that   matters    should   be   so,  but   did    not   wish  to 

offend  those  who  had  chartered  the  vessel.    Mr. 

insisted  I  was  not  of  their  party,  and  that  I  had  no 
right  to  go  there.  I  told  the  Captain  by  whom  I 
was  commissioned,  that  I  was  a  minister  of  the  Free 
Church,  what  my  object  was,  and  to  Dr.  Livingstone 
I  should  go  though  I  should  walk  all  the  way.  ...  I 
came  ashore  and  talked  to  Mr. .  The  conversa- 
tion was  of  the  most  extraordinary  kind.  He  showed 
himself  perfectly  incompetent  to  understand  my 
object  or  myself.  .  .  .  The  conversation  was  thus 
brought  to  a  close.  He  looked  me  full  in  the  face 
and  said :  "  Well,  Mr.  Stewart,  you  are  not  going 
into  the  country  as  a  trader,  tell  me  that."  I  gave 
him  no  answer  but  kept  staring  at  him  in  astonish- 
ment and  anger.  He  said  :  "  I  was  warned  against 
you  at  the  Cape  on  the  ground  that  you  were  going 
into  the  country  in  the  pretended  character  of  a 
missionary,  but  really  as  a  trader,  and  that  you  had 
large  quantities  of  beads." 

' "  If  you  wish  to    see    how   large  a  quantity  of 


STANDING  ALONE  53 

beads  I  have,  come  over  to  this  warehouse."  We 
went  in  silence.  From  the  bottom  of  a  packing- 
case  I  fished  up  a  small  paper  or  pasteboard  box 
about  four  inches  square.  I  tore  it  open  and  dis- 
played eleven  small  red  and  blue  beads.  I  threw 
down  the  box  and  said :  "  There  is  the  enormous 
quantity  of  beads  about  which  the  Portuguese 
Consul  and  yourself  have  held  such  grave  and 
anxious  deliberations.  These  are  the  goods  with 
which  I  intend  to  monopolise  the  trade  of  the 
Portuguese  on  the  Zambesi." 

'  With  that  I  came  away  and  walked  home  by  the 
beach — weak,  weary,  dispirited.  I  wondered  at  the 
position  I  had  got  myself  into.  I  longed  for  the 
quiet  and  rest  of  home,  for  those  peaceful  days  in  a 
snug  manse  in  some  quiet  glen  in  the  north,  or  softer 
vale  in  the  south  or  west.  But  here  I  am  battling 
with  obstinate  and  unprincipled  men,  hewing  my 
way  to  a  man  who  will  perhaps  receive  me  well  or 
perhaps  ill.  In  person  and  in  purse  I  am  suffering. 
I  looked  at  my  worn  coat  and  saw  how  threadbare 
it  was  getting.  I  felt  truly  that  the  difficulties  and 
temptations  of  independent  acting  for  the  Gospel's 
sake,  in  the  effort  to  strike  out  a  new  path,  were  not 
all  realised  at  once,  and  that  it  is  in  detail  we  come 
to  know  what  these  difficulties  and  temptations  are. 
.  .  .  This  evening,  weary  and  dispirited,  I  feel  the 
vastness  and  magnitude  of  the  undertaking  more 
than  I  have  for  some  time  past.' 

All  the  missionaries  he  met  wished  to  persuade 
him  to  abandon  his  plans  in  the  meantime.  They 
believed  that  he  must  fail,  and  would,  in  all  proba- 
bility, soon  die.  Several  remonstrated  with  him. 
Regarding  a  zealous  missionary  he  says  :  '  He  spoke 
of  .  .  .  the  supreme  folly  of  my  journey — did   not 


54  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

wince  in  the  least  when  I  told  him  that  all  his 
arguments  against  my  position  might  have  been 
equally  used  against  himself  twenty-five  years  ago. 
.  .  .  Let  me  record  my  conviction  to  be  examined 
some  future  day  and  found  correct  or  false — that 
there  is  some  work  in  store  for  me  to  do  in  that 
part  of  the  world.  All  unworthy,  all  unfit  as  I  am 
in  many  respects,  yet  I  think  I  have  the  call  to 
go  and  work  there.  O  then,  my  faint  heart,  be 
courageous.  Be  strong  in  Another's  strength.  .  .  . 
And  as  to  final  results,  why  should  I  be  too  anxious? 
My  object  was  and  is  pure.  It  was  not  desire  of 
wandering.  It  was  not  because  I  could  not  succeed 
at  home.  It  was  not  for  the  love  of  notoriety  or 
desire  of  fame.  It  was  and  is  simply  because  there 
is  fit  occasion  now  for  the  opening  up  of  the  country, 
because  it  seems  as  if  we  may  "  take  occasion  by  the 
hand,  and  make  the  bounds  of  freedom  wider  yet." 
.  .  .  But  somehow  I  have  the  impression  that  I  have 
a  work  to  do  in  this  quarter  of  the  world.  If  I  am 
spared  I  will  do  it,  though,  alas,  it  is  even  now  by 
many  a  privation,  by  much  hardship,  and  by  a  weary 
wandering  uncertain  sort  of  life.'  He  records  his 
determination,  should  a  passage  be  denied  him,  to 
reach  Livingstone  by  walking  all  the  way  on  foot,  a 
distance  of  about  nine  hundred  miles.  Like  a  true 
Scot,  he  had  determined  'to  do  or  dee.'  'The  strong 
man  and  the  waterfall  channel  their  own  path,'  as 
the  proverb  puts  it. 

Had  those  who  were  determined  to  turn  Mr. 
Stewart  back  succeeded  in  winning  Mrs.  Living- 
stone to  their  side,  all  his  hopes  would  have  been 
crushed.  But  she  did  not  forget  that  at  her  request, 
and  for  her  convenience,  he  had  changed  all  his 
plans.      She    remained    thoroughly    loyal    to    him, 


HOME-SICKNESS  55 

and  as  they  could  not  leave  her,  they  had  to  take 
both. 

'  In  the  afternoon  I  went  to  Mrs.  Livingstone.  She 
said  it  had  all  been  arranged.  She  repeated  her  de- 
termination not  to  leave  without  me.  I  thanked  her 
with  all  sincerity,  and  I  hope  with  due  gratitude.' 

The  difficulties  even  then  were  not  over.  After  a 
peculiarly  harassing  day  he  writes  : — 

'  Let  me  make  an  entry  to  solace  my  weary  hours 
with  thoughts  of  that  better  country,  when  I  am 
weary  and  sick  of  the  strife  and  struggle  that  my 
present  life  is  leading  me  into. 

'  "And  I  John  saw  the  holy  city  New  Jerusalem." 
'For  thee,  O  dear  dear  country,  mine  eyes  their  vigils  keep, 
Thy  happy  name  beholding,  for  very  love  they  weep. 
The  mention  of  thy  glory  is  unction  to  the  breast, 
And  medicine  in  sickness  and  love  and  life  and  rest. 
And  now  we  fight  the  battle  and  then  we  wear  the  crown 
Of  full  and  everlasting  and  passionless  renown. 
O  land  that  seest  no  sorrow  !    O  state  that  know'st  no  strife  ! 
O  princely  bowers  I    O  land  of  flowers  !    O  realm  and  home 
of  life.' 

He  was  haunted  and  tortured  by  doubts  that  his 
hero,  as  he  had  been  told  again  and  again,  would 
not  welcome  or  help  him,  and  he  had  decided  what 
he  would  do  in  that  case.  His  Journals  during  these 
days  reveal  his  inmost  heart,  the  agonies  he  en- 
dured, a  courage  mounting  with  the  occasion,  and  a 
resoluteness  that  could  hardly  be  surpassed. 

'  If  it  should  turn  out  that  Dr.  Livingstone  refuses 
to  do  anything  for  me,  I  must  not  on  that  account 
give  up.  It  may  be  possible  to  enter  Central  Africa 
without  him  or  in  spite  of  him.  His  assistance 
would  be  most  valuable,  but  it  is  not  to  be  reckoned 
indispensable.' 


56  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

On  December  24th  the  Hetty  Ellen  ^  sailed.  '  I  .  .  . 
got  up  on  the  stern,  behind  the  wheel,  took  off  my 
hat  and  gave  the  three  heartiest  cheers  I  ever  gave 
in  my  life.  So  we  sailed  out  of  Port  Natal.'  He  was 
in  the  best  mood  for  cheering ;  he  had  won  a  long, 
doubtful  and  hard-fought  battle ;  and  after  all  he 
was  to  reach  Livingstone  and  the  Zambesi ;  and 
they  had  on  board  the  Lady  Nyasa,  whose  name 
inspired  the  hope  that  Central  Africa  was  soon  to 
be  opened  up. 

*■  December  2$,  1862. 

'This  is  Christmas  Day,  and  O  strangest  of  all 
contrasts  is  this  day  to  this  day  twelvemonth. 
About  the  same  time  in  the  evening  that  we  were 
sitting  together  in  my  snug  room  in  Grove  Street 
.  .  .  turning  round  to  the  fire  to  enjoy  some  pleasant 
chat,  I  was  creeping,  weak  and  weary,  up  from  the 
hold  of  the  Hetty  Ellen  (where  I  had  lain  in  an 
uneasy  slumber  all  day)  to  the  deck  for  some  fresh 
air.  Last  year,  after  a  day's  hard  work  at  the  Card- 
ross  office,  I  made  my  way  home  through  the  snowy 
streets,  .  .  .  the  warm  room,  the  curtains  drawn 
close,  the  linen  more  snowy  than  the  snow  without. 
.  .  .  O  how  my  thoughts  wander  homewards.  It 
seems  to  me  as  if  it  would  be  happiness  to  be  at 
home.  ...  I  went  forward  to  the  bows  of  the  ship 
and  held  a  short  meeting  with  the  men.  If  some 
seeds  of  eternal  truth  are  lodged  in  some  hearts  and 
if  reflections  be  wakened  on  eternal  realities,  then  I 
shall  be  satisfied  and  be  content  to  do  my  work 
along  the  way,  though  it  be  to  small  and  fugitive 
congregations.' 

On  the  last  day  of  the  year  he  makes  the  following 

'  A  small  sailing-vessel  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  tons. 


A  WILD  GOOSE  CHASE  57 

entry  in  his  Journal : — '  Make  me  patient  under 
calumny  whether  it  be  at  home  or  abroad.  Give  me 
patience  to  labour  at  details  as  much  as  if  they  were 
the  highest  work.  Let  me  not  get  disappointed 
with  the  opposition  that  may  be  thrown  in  the  way. 
If  it  shall  prove  not  to  be  Thy  call  for  me  to  labour 
here,  help  me  to  take  the  lesson  Thou  givest  for  my 
good.  Help  me  to  be  content  with  Thy  work  /;/  me 
if  not  by  me,  and  out  of  all  the  vexation  and  trial  it 
has  brought,  only  let  my  heart  be  brought  nearer 
Thee.' 

During  the  long  days  on  the  ship  Mr.  Stewart 
often  reflected  on  his  position  : — *  It  would  almost 
appear  as  if  I  were  on  as  real  a  wild  goose  chase 
as  ever  mortal  started  on.  Here  I  am  careering  over 
a  whole  continent  in  search  of  work  I  have  marked 
out  for  myself.  What  I  want  or  desire  is  more 
thorough  conviction.  And  yet  I  must  say  I  cannot 
well  have  more.  All  the  circumstances  attending 
my  choice  are  such  as  to  make  it  appear  as  my  work 
to  go  and  open  directly  the  way  for  Christianity  into 
Central  Africa.  Let  me  realise  this  idea  more  dis- 
tinctly, and  work  at  it.  The  work  has  yet  to  be 
done  in  part  at  least.  It  is  not  by  the  Zambesi  that 
the  way  in  will  ever  be  found — at  least  I  think  so. 
What  stronger  call  can  I  wish  or  expect  than  what 
I  have  had :  concurrent  circumstances,  continuous 
conviction,  the  ways  and  means  provided,  and  especi- 
ally these  two  events  in  that  most  memorable  year. 
All  things  concurred  :  why  should  I  have  refused  ?  .  .  . 

'  It  seems  to  me  I  shall  be  getting  old  before  I  can 
effect  anything  up  there.  My  life  with  a  great  aim 
is  aimless.  Yet  ...  I  have  much  to  be  thankful, 
yea,  very  grateful,  to  God  my  Father  for  all  His 
kindness    and    goodness    to    me.       I    possess    ex- 


58  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

cellent  health,  better  than  most  men  in  the  ship. 
I  have  been  turning  over  in  my  own  mind  my 
singular  position.  Out  of  it  comes  my  idea,  large 
and  distinct  enough  at  times :  the  introduction  of 
the  Gospel  into  that  part  of  Africa,  if  it  shall  be 
found  practicable  and  advisable  now.  That  is,  if 
communication  can  be  opened,  if  Dr.  Livingstone's 
co-operation  can  be  secured,  if  men  and  money  can 
be  got  at  home.  ...  It  is  perhaps  beyond  my 
strength.  Still,  let  me  work  on,  keeping  before  me 
the  idea  in  its  greatest  breadth  and  simplicity — the 
introduction  of  the  Gospel  into  a  new  field.  This 
will  hallow  all  labour  and  dignify  every  employment, 
even  to  the  putting  up  of  a  small  steamer.' 

Again  :  *  To-day,  in  thinking  over  the  future,  I 
confess  I  feel  doubtful  enough.  It  seems  to  me  as 
if  I  must  go  home  and  work,  taught,  chastened, 
almost  branded  with  the  mark  of  ambition,  with 
running  where  I  was  not  sent,  with  seeking  to  do 
God's  work,  while  He  refuses  to  have  it  done  by 
such  hands  as  mine.  On  the  other  hand,  if  I  can 
make  a  beginning,  and  gain  the  confidence  of  the 
Church,  why  should  I  not  try  to  take  up  Dr. 
Livingstone's  work,  as  far  at  least  as  its  moral 
objects  are  concerned.  ...  In  the  introduction  of 
the  Gospel  into  Central  Africa,  why  may  not  the 
idea  come  from  me  as  well  as  from  any  one  else  ? 
I  not  only  give  the  idea,  but  I  give  my  life  and  hard 
work  to  the  task.  If  it  be  said  that  I  am  young,  let 
me  simply  answer,  many  men  have  lived  three  times 
the  age,  but  have  never  conceived  the  idea,  and 
many  have  conceived  it  who  have  not  attempted  it. 
Perhaps  I  may  find  Dr.  Livingstone  unwilling  to 
have  anything  to  do  with  me.  Am  I  then  to 
stop  ? ' 


AT  QUILIMANE  59 

Calumny  still  pursued  him.  On  January  29th,  at 
anchor  off  Quilimane,  he  writes  : — '  For  ten  months 

has been  going  about  giving  the  impression  that 

I  am  a  rogue  and  impostor,  thwarting  me  in  every 
way  and  causing  great  additional  expense.  ...  I  sat 
long  on  the  poop,  looking  up  at  the  stars,  wonder- 
ing if  Zambesi  expeditions  harassed  and  worried  any 
of  these  bright  abodes.  My  view  of  life  partook  of 
sadness  surely,  though  I  confess  that  never  before 
was  heaven  so  precious,  so  much  like  home  to  me  as 
since  I  set  out  on  this  journey.  My  heart  has  gone 
thither.  Only  there  does  there  seem  anything  like 
rest  for  me.  Whatever  the  future  of  my  life  may 
be,  let  my  heart  remain  true  to  that  final  home  of 
the  redeemed ;  may  it  ever  vibrate  thither  as  the 
needle  to  the  pole.  ...  If  Livingstone  himself  had 
got  discouraged,  we  should  have  had  nothing  to- 
day of  what  we  now  know  from  the  Missionary 
Travels.  Patience  and  courage  will  yet  solve  the 
riddle,  for  this  Zambesi  is  as  yet  a  riddle.  .  .  .  O 
my  Father,  use  me,  all  unworthy  as  I  am,  for  Thy 
great  purposes  of  love  and  mercy  to  our  race  on 
earth.' 

It  was  scarcely  possible  that  the  future  could  bring 
him  greater  trials  of  uncertainty  and  opposition  than 
those  he  had  already  conquered. 

If  in  after  years  some  were  disposed  to  regard  the 
founder  of  Livingstonia  as  too  tenacious  of  his  own 
opinions  when  they  were  not  shared  by  his  yoke- 
fellows, they  should  remember  that  without  that 
marvellous  tenacity  of  purpose  he  could  never  have 
reached  the  Zambesi,  or  become  one  of  the  greatest 
of  modern  missionary  pioneers. 

He  acted  as  chaplain  to  the  seamen  and  had  a 
service  for  them  every  Sabbath,  and  a  short  service 


6o  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

for  them  every  evening,  and  was  encouraged  by  their 
attention  and  appreciation. 

On  January  8,  1862,  there  was  a  cry  from  the 
mast-head,  '  Land  Ho,'  but  it  was  a  mistaken  signal. 
As  they  could  get  no  news  of  Livingstone,  they  sailed 
to  Mozambique. 

He  there  met  Captain  Wilson,  Commander  of 
H.M.S.  Gorgon,  one  of  the  squadron  cruising  on 
the  coast  for  the  suppression  of  slavery.  They 
became  attached  friends,  and  Captain  Wilson  after- 
wards took  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  establishment 
of  Livingstonia. 

On  the  first  day  of  February  1862,  the  Pioneer, 
with  Livingstone  on  board,  steamed  alongside  the 
Hetty  Ellen.  '  All  the  troubles  and  worries  of  many 
years,'  says  J.  S.,  'seemed  compensated  in  the 
romance  of  this  morning.  .  .  .  Though  I  have  never 
seen  him  before,  I  have  no  difficulty  in  identifying 
the  man.  In  his  white  trousers,  frock-coat,  and 
naval  cap,  he  looked  uncommonly  smart  and  had 
a  commanding  air.  ...  I  could  not  help  remarking 
to  Mrs.  Livingstone  that  the  Doctor  seemed  to  be 
a  great  swell.  She  gives  me  a  gratified  slap  for 
so  speaking  of  the  great  pioneer,  on  whom  I  have 
just  set  my  admiring  eyes.  ...  I  am  introduced  to 
the  Doctor,  and  shake  hands.  "  I  am  glad  to  see 
you  here,  Mr.  Stewart,"  he  said.  "  Thank  you, 
Doctor,"  was  all  my  reply,  except  the  hearty  good- 
will and  admiration  with  which  I  look  at  the 
man.' 

All  the  fears  with  which  others  had  inspired  him 
about  Dr.  Livingstone's  action  were  at  an  end. 
Concerning  this  matter  he  had  had  endless  fears 
during  the  past  seven  months,  none  of  which  had 
been  realised.     Nine  sweet  words  of  welcome  had 


BREAKING  THE  SPELL  6i 

broken  the  horrid  spell,  and  he  now  walks  at  liberty, 
a  new  man  in  a  new  world.  '  I  am  satisfied,'  he 
writes ;  '  I  remain  on  board  in  a  state  of  contented 
quiescence.' 


CHAPTER    VIII 

THE  COMPANION   OF  LIVINGSTONE 

Livingstone's  Hearty  Welcome — On  the  Zambesi— The  Uni- 
versities' Mission  —  The  Blacksmith  —  Death  of  Mrs. 
Livingstone — Exploring  the  Shir^  and  the  Zambesi — 
Cotton-growing — Fevers — A  Bag  of  Bones — Homewards. 

'  One  who  never  turned  his  back  but  marched  breast  forward, 

Never  doubted  clouds  would  break, 
Never  dreamed,  though  right  were  worsted,  wrong  would  triumph, 
Held  we  fall  to  rise,  are  baffled  to  fight  better. 
Sleep  to  wake.' 

— Browning's  '  Asolando.' 

'  It  is  not  the  work  I  shrink  from  :  it  is  the  want  of  work.' 

'  Men  talk  of  the  hardships  of  missionary  life.     How  little  they  realise 

them  in  detail  I     Yet  for  all  thai  !  do  not  mind  one  straw,  were  it  possible 

to  get  set  to  work.' — Dr.  Stewart's  Journal. 

'  I  feel  quite  exhilarated :  when  one  travels  with  the  specific  object  of 
ameliorating  the  condition  of  the  natives,  every  act  is  ennobled.' — 
Livingstone. 

'  The  same  toils  are  not  so  intolerable  to  a  general  as  to  a  common 
soldier.' — Xenophon . 

James  Stewart  is  now  on  the  Zambesi,  welcomed 
by  Livingstone,  and  his  guest  on  board  the  Pioneer} 
one  of  the  happiest  and  most  thankful  of  men. 

'It  seemed  to  me,'  he  writes  (July  2,  1862), 'the 
realising   of  some   strange  dream   to   be   rambling 

^  The  Pioneer  was  the  steamer  which  the  Government  had  placed 
at  the  disposal  of  Livingstone  as  Consul  and  Commander  of  the  Ex- 
pedition  for   exploring    Eastern   and   Central   Africa.      His  brother 
Charles  and  Dr.  (now  Sir  John)  Kirk  belonged  to  the  party. 
62 


LIVINGSTONE'S  HOSPITALITY  63 

through  the  grassy  delta  and  mangrove  forests  of 
the  Zambesi  on  this  African  summer  evening  with 
Dr.  Livingstone.' 

He  resolved  not  to  mention  his  painful  experi- 
ences at  Cape  Town,  Durban,  and  on  the  voyage. 
Dr.  Livingstone  had  heard  of  them  and  introduced 
the  subject.  *  I  did  not  mean  to  refer  to  these  things,' 
Stewart  said.  '  As  an  honest  man  yourself,  you 
must  know  the  pain  it  gives  to  be  constantly 
suspected.'  Dr.  Livingstone  replied,  '  I  think  all 
that  behaviour  on  their  part  was  madness.  It  seems 
to  me  that  they  were  acting  in  the  most  nonsensical 
way  imaginable.  .  .  .  These  obstacles  were  but 
the  temptations  of  the  evil  one.'  '  I  saw  that  he 
thought  as  I  thought,'  Stewart  adds,  'and  I  was 
content.' 

They  had  many  long  conversations  about  the 
mission,  and  almost  everything.  They  were  both 
keenly  interested  in  Theology,  Literature,  Botany, 
Astronomy,  and  Natural  History,  and  they  were  of 
one  opinion  about  the  mission. 

*  I  said  my  object  was  to  gain  as  much  informa- 
tion as  would  enable  me  to  get  a  strong  Presbyterian 
Mission  established.  I  was  not  peculiarly  anxious 
to  make  it  a  Free  Church  affair.  I  thought  the 
Free,  United  Presbyterian,  and  English  Presbyterian 
Churches  might  be  well  united.  The  first  thing  that 
would  draw  them  together  would  be  mutual  interest 
in  some  common  work. 

'  Dr.  Livingstone  said  he  had  a  warm  side  to  the 
Free  Church,  and  if  he  had  been  at  home  at  the 
time,  he  would  probably  have  joined  it.  He  had 
also  a  certain  affection  for  the  Established  Church — 
from  being  brought  up  in  connection  with  it,  and 
from    parish    school    reminiscences.      "  Indeed,"    he 


64  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

said,  "  I  would  be  glad  to  see  any  one  send  out  a 
mission,  except  perhaps  the  Socinians.  I  would  not 
like  them.  ...  I  think  the  better  plan  will  be  for 
you  to  go  up  to  see  the  country.  You  can  go  as  far 
as  the  lake.  You  can  see  the  river  and  the  people 
and  the  bishop's  station  and  be  able  to  judge  for 
yourself." 

'  When  I  went  into  some  further  details  about  my 
relation  to  the  expedition  and  the  question  of  ex- 
penses, he  replied,  "  that  is  unnecessary ;  you  can 
mess  with  us." ' 

Exulting  in  his  strength,  freedom,  and  new-born 
hope,  Stewart  toiled  like  a  Hercules,  transferring  the 
cargo  from  the  Hetty  Ellen  to  the  Pioneer,  gather- 
ing firewood  for  the  steamer  and  making  himself 
generally  useful.  '  It  was  a  wholesome  sight,'  he 
remarks,  'to  see  Dr.  Livingstone  and  Captain  Wilson 
pushing  and  shoving  as  merrily  as  ordinary  sea- 
men.' 

The  degenerate  Portuguese  looked  on  with  amaze- 
ment. The  richer  among  them  wore  a  very  long 
nail  on  their  little  finger,  to  show  that  they  never 
touched  manual  work.  That  was  no  small  part  of 
the  Nemesis  that  attended  slave-holding. 

On  the  9th  of  March,  the  Pioneer  reached  Shu- 
panga.  The  river  was  low  then,  and  the  steamer 
was  often  stranded  on  the  sand-banks,  and  set  afloat 
only  with  great  difficulty.  They  were  imprisoned 
on  one  sand-bank  for  a  whole  week.  Only  with 
great  efforts  could  they  collect  enough  firewood. 
They  had  spent  fully  five  weeks  on  the  river.  His 
Journal  at  this  period  throbs  with  hopes  and  fears. 

'  I  believe  I  have  found  my  sphere,  and  though 
I  am  getting  exceeding  poor,  yet  I  must  follow  out 
my  convictions.  ...  I   feel  that   I   may  disappoint 


SELF-REVELATION  65 

my  friends,  and  that  from  promising  much  and 
accomplishing  little,  I  shall  damage  my  own  in- 
fluence .  .  .  but  I  did  the  work  from  as  pure  a 
motive  as  I  am  capable  of  entertaining,  or  I  believe 
any  other  man  is  capable  of  entertaining.  .  .  .  To- 
day I  felt  gloomy  and  dull,  but  not  less  resolute 
than  ever.  This  is  the  peculiarity  specially — that  is, 
that  I  feel  so  much  all  these  difficulties,  and  yet  that 
they  never  alter  my  resolution  in  any  degree.  ...  I 
am  getting  an  old  man.  I  shall  be  thirty  shortly, 
and  how  little  have  I  accomplished.  .  .  .  My  life  up 
to  the  time  I  engaged  in  this  effort  was  peace  itself. 
I  seemed  to  have  lived  in  a  quiet  haven  of  rest ;  now 
I  am  out  on  the  stormiest  of  seas.  ...  At  times  I 
yearn  for  home,  quiet  and  regular  work.  Eleven 
years'  preparation  and  expenditure,  and  no  settled 
goal  yet.  I  wish  I  could  see  my  way  a  little  more 
clearly.  I  am  willing  to  labour  anywhere  if  I  can 
see  it  to  be  the  right  sphere.  ...  I  am  not  weary  of 
the  work  or  sick  of  it,  but  I  feel  keenly  my  difficult 
position.  Yet  why  grumble  ?  It  is  the  law  of 
benevolence.  I  cannot  do  good  to  the  miserable 
without  being  touched  by  their  misery,'  He  adds  a 
note :  '  Things  to  ask  for  in  prayer — perseverance  in 
a  holy  life,  willingness  to  do  God's  will  and  suffer  it, 
rest  in  divine  sovereignty,  not  theoretical,  but  calm, 
happy  acquiescence  in  God's  power  as  exercised 
towards  me.' 

Stewart  spent  four  months  at  Shupanga,  Living- 
stone's headquarters  on  the  Zambesi.  The  sister  of 
Bishop  Mackenzie,  and  Mrs.  Burrup,  the  wife  of  one 
of  his  assistants,  returned  with  the  distressing  news 
that  both  the  Bishop  and  Mr.  Burrup  were  dead, 
and  that  the  Universities'  Mission  was  imperilled. 
Both  Livingstone  and  Stewart  felt  that  these  calami- 

E 


66  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

ties  might  discourage  the  hope  of  planting  another 
mission  in  Central  Africa,  but  they  were  of  the 
opinion  that  the  hope  should  not  be  abandoned. 
Stewart  was  not  idle.  He  studied  Theology,  Botany, 
Astronomy,  Natural  History,  the  native,  the  native 
language,  of  which  he  wished  to  make  a  grammar, 
and  Portuguese.  Among  the  books  he  was  then 
reading  he  mentions  Vinet,  Pascal,  Hodge,  Isaac 
Taylor,  and  the  Princeton  Review. 

He  gathered  all  information  likely  to  be  useful 
for  the  mission  and  his  book  on  Africa.  When  a 
boy,  he  had  said  that  he  would  never  be  satisfied 
till  he  was  in  Africa  with  a  Bible  in  his  pocket  and 
a  rifle  on  his  shoulder.  He  had  now  often  a  rifle  on 
his  shoulder,  to  supply,  not  only  his  wants,  but  also 
the  wants  of  his  party.  He  objected  to  shoot  except 
'for  a  legitimate  object,'  and  he  now  'shot  for  the 
pot.'  Food  was  scarce,  and  the  party  were  some- 
times half-starved.  *  I  could  not  but  think  it  a 
curious  phenomenon  in  my  life,  that  here  in  the 
heavy  tropical  twilight  I  should  be  stumping  about 
among  muddy  creeks,  wet  up  to  the  knees  amongst 
tall  reeds  and  grass  on  an  alligator-haunted  island 
in  search  of  something  for  to-morrow's  dinner,  and 
finding  .  .  .  great  difficulty  in  getting  enough  to 
eat.'  1 

Frequent  attacks  of  fever  depressed  his  spirits, 
but  the  bare  idea  of  abandoning  the  mission  always 
intensified  his  determination. 


^  He  regarded  as  fair  game  all  animals  fit  for  food,  and  all  noxious 
animals  and  beasts  of  prey.  But  he  never  shot  an  elephant,  though 
he  was  often  near  large  herds  of  them.  He  disapproved  of  their 
destruction  for  sport  or  for  a  little  ivory.  He  never  fired  a  shot  till 
he  was  sure,  so  far  as  he  could  judge,  that  it  would  be  fatal.  He 
abhorred  the  idea  of  causing  needless  pain  to  any  of  God's  creatures. 


THE  DREAMER  67 

In  his  Journal  of  those  days  the  homeless  wanderer 
dwells  fondly  on  visions  of  home.  His  soul  finds 
solace  in  sweet  dreams,  and  exults  in  perfect  con- 
trasts. He  hears  the  Sabbath  bells  at  Scone, 
enjoys  the  fragrance  of  the  old  paternal  fields,  and 
listens  to  the  sough  of  the  corn  in  harvest-time. 
He  holds  nightly  converse  with  his  '  saintly  mother,' 
his  father,  'his  dear,  dear  brother  Johnnie.'  ...  'I 
awoke,  and  I  was  alone  in  Africa,'  he  writes.  By 
day,  he  thinks  and  writes  about  the  '  then '  and  the 
'  now,'  and  wonders  and  prays  over  the  mysterious 
future. 

When  Dr.  Livingstone  and  Dr.  Kirk  were  away, 
either  up  or  down  the  river,  Stewart  was  doctor 
and  chaplain.  He  did  all  he  could  to  secure  the 
spiritual  welfare  of  the  company  and  the  due  obser- 
vance of  the  Sabbath-day,  *  thinking  it  best  at  all 
hazards,  and  at  every  inconvenience,  to  keep  the  day 
according  to  the  commandment.' 

'  On  the  whole,'  he  writes,  '  the  day,  though  busily 
spent,  was  not  spent  as  a  Sabbath,  and  therefore  was 

misspent.     A proposed  to  go  ashore  to  shoot. 

This  led  to  a  conversation  on  the  Sabbath,  and  on 
religious  topics.  I  said  a  man  should  never  be 
ashamed  to  acknowledge  that  he  feared  the  God 
who  created  him.  O  how  I  long  for  something  like 
a  Sabbath  again  !  Little  during  the  day  except  an 
intense  longing  after  the  happy,  quiet  Sabbaths  of 
home.' 

Here  is  his  record  of  a  delightful  surprise.  '  In 
the  evening  I  got  into  a  very  interesting  conversa- 
tion with  Macleod,  the  blacksmith  of  the  Pioneer. 
He  is  a  Scot  from  Campsie,  has  a  true  west  country 
twang,  and  like  most  of  our  countrymen,  far  better 
informed  on  many  subjects  of  the  highest  importance 


68  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

than  nine-tenths  of  those  among  whom  he  lives.  I 
found  him  to  be  a  Christian,  and  the  manner  of  his 
calling  was  one  of  the  most  singular  that  has  ever 
been  heard  of.  He  was  for  some  time  resting  on  a 
righteousness  of  his  own,  trusting  to  a  moral  life  and 
his  general  goodness,  but  frequently  with  misgivings 
as  to  the  security  of  his  foundations.  At  times  he 
felt  that  the  sand  on  which  he  was  resting  was 
moving.  When  at  Johanna  on  board  the  Lynx^  he 
was  sent  along  with  a  party  to  assist  the  Enchantress^ 
which  had  got  ashore.  In  the  subsequent  destruc- 
tion of  the  vessel  there  was  much  confusion.  Kick- 
ing about  the  deck,  he  found  some  of  Spurgeon's 
sermons.  In  reading  a  few  sentences  casually  where 
the  book  opened,  he  met  the  expression  :  "  You  need 
not  carry  your  coals  to  Newcastle,"  i.e.  you  need  not 
bring  your  righteousness  to  the  righteousness  of 
Christ.  He  saw  his  mistake,  and  shortly  afterwards 
found  peace  and  rest  on  the  true  foundation.'  This 
blacksmith  had  made  the  very  discovery  that  was 
made  by  Saul  of  Tarsus,  Luther,  Wesley,  and  Dr. 
Chalmers. 

John  Reid,  from  Govan,  the  carpenter  of  the 
Pioneer.,  for  some  time  the  only  white  companion 
of  Stewart  at  Shupanga,  cherished  the  warmest 
affection  for  the  young  explorer.  He  used  to  tell 
that  when  bedtime  drew  near,  Stewart  'read  a 
psalm  or  some  other  passage  in  the  Bible,  and  gave 
a  nice  explanation,  and  then  had  a  short  prayer, 
and  he  did  the  same  in  the  morning.'  Some  time 
afterwards  Stewart  met  Reid  in  Sauchiehall  Street. 
He  dropped  a  leather  bag  he  was  carrying,  and 
seized  his  friend  with  both  hands.  Years  afterwards, 
when  Dr.  Stewart  was  Moderator,  he  telegraphed 
an  invitation  to  Reid  to  spend  a  day  with  him,  and 


MRS.  LIVINGSTONE'S  LAST  HOURS         69 

gave  him  an  exuberant  welcome  when  he  arrived. 
Reid  described  him  as  a  '  splendid,  God-fearing  man. 
He  was  as  fine  a  man  as  ever  I  saw.' 

Stewart  was  at  Shupanga  when  Mrs.  Livingstone 
died  of  the  fever  of  the  country.  Of  that  sad 
experience  he  wrote  in  the  Sunday  Magazine  :  '  The 
man  who  had  faced  so  many  deaths  and  braved  so 
many  dangers  was  now  utterly  broken  down  and 
weeping  like  a  child.  He  asked  me  to  commend 
her  soul  to  God  in  prayer.  And  he,  Kirk  and  my- 
self, who  only  were  in  the  room,  knelt  down,  and 
we  prayed  fervently  to  Him  to  whom  we  always 
turn  in  our  hours  of  greatest  need,  and  when  all 
human  help  and  comfort  fail,  and  committed  her 
departing  spirit  to  the  all-embracing  mercy  and 
love  of  her  Saviour.  ...  In  this  way,  in  the  African 
wilderness,  died  Livingstone's  wife  and  Moffat's 
daughter,  at  the  close  of  a  long,  clear,  hot  day,  the 
last  Sabbath  of  April,  1862.' 

She  was  buried  under  the  gigantic  baobab  tree, 
the  patriarch  of  the  African  plain.  Most  travellers 
on  that  great  waterway  halt  at  Shupanga,  and 
reverently  visit  the  grave.  In  his  last  journey, 
Livingstone's  thoughts  turned  to  that  lonely  grave. 
'  Poor  Mary,'  he  then  wrote,  '  lies  on  Shupanga  brae, 
that  beeks  foment  the  sun.'  He  then  avowed  his 
preference  for  a  grave  like  hers,  never  dreaming  that 
he  would  receive  the  most  honoured  grave  which 
his  nation  could  give  to  his  dust. 

Sir  John  Kirk,  Livingstone's  only  surviving  fellow- 
traveller  of  white  colour,  writing  of  Stewart,  says : 
'  We  were  brought  into  close  contact  during  Mr?. 
Livingstone's  illness,  and  together  we  assisted  at 
the  grave  when  my  noble  leader,  Dr.  Livingstone, 
was  present.     All  this  took  place  many  years  ago. 


70  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

but  none  of  us  then  realised  how  soon  the  river  was 
to  be  opened  up  as  a  highway  for  commerce  and 
civilisation.  .  .  .  Beyond  the  time  we  met  during 
Mrs.  Livingstone's  fatal  illness,  I  had  then  little 
opportunity  of  appreciating  the  high  qualities  which 
I  afterwards  learned  he  had,  when  I  visited  the 
establishment  at  Lovedale  and  enjoyed  some 
pleasant  days  in  his  company.  His  was  a  most 
interesting  life,  full  of  practical  work  carried  out 
to  the  end  in  the  most  thorough  manner.  All  he 
did  was  well  thought  out  before,  and  the  mission 
in  Nyasaland  and  the  training  establishment  at 
Lovedale  will  always  remain  as  his  best  monument. 
Dr.  Stewart  at  that  time  saw  the  difficulties  but 
did  not  despair,  and  later  on  it  was  he  who  pushed 
forward  the  mission-work  that  has  been  the  pioneer 
of  the  many  changes  that  have  taken  place  since.' 

At  this  great  crisis  in  his  life,  Livingstone  turned 
to  Stewart  for  companionship  and  help.  In  the 
evenings  they  had  long  conversations  about  the 
deathless  life  beyond  the  grave.  '  We  talked,' 
Stewart  writes,  'over  the  idea  of  the  state  of 
seclusion — the  Hades  or  Intermediate  State — and 
agreed  to  hold  the  common  belief.  He  then  ex- 
pressed his  willingness  to  die.' 

From  this  time  their  companionship  seems  to 
have  been  complete.  '  Dr.  Livingstone,'  he  writes, 
'is  peculiarly  communicative  and  agreeable.' 

Here  are  some  extracts  from  his  Journal  while 
detained  at  Shupanga :  '  I  am  getting  impatient, 
wishing  I  were  home  at  some  regular  work.  .  .  .  Am 
I  never  to  see  home  again  ?  .  .  .  Let  me  not  think 
too  much  of  comfort.  Eternity  will  soon  be  on  us 
all,  then  the  question  will  be,  what  sacrifices  in  life 
we  have  made  for  Him   who  sacrificed  all?     How 


SELF-EXAMINATION  71 

grand  a  thing  it  would  be  if  I  could  have  my  life 
filled  with  the  one  object,  that  of  doing  only  what 
would  advance  the  cause  of  the  everlasting  kingdom. 
But  my  thoughts  turn  to  earth  and  to  its  joys.  The 
unseen  and  the  eternal  has  not  the  hold  on  me  it 
ought  to  have — that  I  wish  it  to  have.  I  have  not 
had  too  much  happiness  latterly  for  a  few  years 
back.  I  wish  I  had  this  as  an  absorbing,  all-devour- 
ing object.  ...  I  am  willing  to  go  to  Calcutta,  yet 
the  whisper  of  my  judgment  is  against  it.  .  .  .  My 
present  path  is  rather  a  mystery  and  a  difficulty  to 
myself.  .  .  .  My  mental  stagnation  is  great.  I  think 
I  am  one  of  the  most  useless  fellows  alive.  My 
days  are  passing,  and  it  seems  as  if  I  had  an  opinion 
of  myself  quite  at  variance  with  fact.  ...  I  think  I 
can  do  something  when  I  can  do  nothing.  .  .  . 
Accusing  myself  of  being  fickle  and  feeble.  But 
really  I  could  not  do  anything  else.  The  higher 
objects  of  my  visit  are  now  put  out  of  my  reach, 
and  I  do  not  regard  the  others  as  worthy  of  effort' 

His  Journal  reveals  the  peculiar  depression  which 
attends  African  fever.  He  writes  :  '  I  was  so  ashamed 
of  my  worldliness,  ambitions,  selfishness,  love  of  pre- 
cedence and  fiery  evil  temper,  that  I  could  hardly 
contain  myself  ...  at  length  had  to  go  on  shore  and 
retire  among  the  mangoes.  There  I  asked  for  grace 
to  overcome  these  earthly  selfish  feelings,  and  merely 
human  cravings,  in  so  far  as  they  interfered  with 
my  work.  I  also  sought  advice  that  the  future 
might  be  a  little  more  clear  and  less  obscure  than 
the  present  is.  .  .  .  Resolve  to  go  off  alone  up  the 
Shir^,  if  possible,  see  and  learn  what  I  can,  and  if 
possible  also  up  to  Tete ;  then  return  homewards, 
and  get  to  work  somewhere.  But  whatever  I  do,  at 
home  or  abroad,  I  tvill  not  vegetate.      I    shall   try 


72  STEWART  OF  LOVED  ALE 

to  serve  God  in  the  way  He  may  be  pleased  to 
open  up.' 

'  I  have  now  come  to  be  able  to  travel  with  the 
minimum  of  baggage — a  piece  of  soap,  a  towel  and 
a  comb.' 

Livingstone  wished  to  explore  the  Rovuma  (a 
river  to  the  north  of  the  Zambesi)  in  the  hope  of 
finding  an  entrance  into  Central  Africa,  free  from 
Portuguese  control.  Stewart  found  that  he  would 
have  to  wait  a  whole  year  if  he  accompanied 
Livingstone's  expedition.  Hungering  for  a  be- 
ginning and  for  real  work,  he  resolved  to  push  into 
the  interior.  The  only  white  man  with  him  was  a 
member  of  the  Universities'  Mission.  They  had 
a  native  canoe  dug  out  of  a  great  tree.  It  was  so 
nicely  balanced  as  to  be  easily  capsized,  and  the 
river  was  swarming  with  crocodiles  and  hippopotami. 
Stewart  had  a  crew  of  eight  natives,  whose  steady 
paddling  against  the  stream  drew  forth  his  admira- 
tion. He  passed  through  the  pestiferous  '  Elephant 
Marsh,'  a  paradise  for  sportsmen,  in  which  herds  of 
three  hundred  elephants  were  sometimes  found.  His 
canoe  startled  great  numbers  of  crocodiles  which 
looked  '  like  so  many  trunks  of  trees  left  by  the 
receding  river.'  On  one  island  they  counted  seventy- 
two  alligators  basking  in  the  sun.  He  visited  Bishop 
Mackenzie's  grave,  and  the  ill-fated  Universities' 
Mission.  On  foot,  and  usually  in  company  with  a 
member  of  that  mission,  he  explored  the  Highland 
Lake  Region  on  both  sides  of  the  Shir^. 

Concerning  his  numberless  discomforts,  hardships, 
and  African  fevers,  he  writes :  '  But  with  a  definite 
purpose  and  the  knowledge  that  you  are  certainly 
clearing  the  way  for  a  better  state  of  things,  and 
helping  to  bring   in    the  dawn  of  a  better  day  of 


EXPLORING  THE  SHIRfi  HIGHLANDS      73 

gospel  light,  there  is  a  measure  of  enjcyment  even 
with  all  the  discomfort  in  canoe  voyaging  in  African 
rivers.'  As  he  entered  the  villages  '  in  his  shirt- 
sleeves, and  with  an  old  green  silk  umbrella  over 
his  head,  the  women  startled  and  the  children 
screamed.'  Every  night  he  spoke  to  them  of  Jesus 
Christ,  *  a  phrase  never  heard  by  them  before,  but 
it  was  left  among  them.  I  gathered  all  my  men 
round  the  fire  after  supper,  and  spoke  to  them  the 
things  of  God.  The  outline  of  my  talk  was  God, 
Sin,  Jesus  Christ'  He  records  that  the  native 
women  everywhere  showed  him  the  greatest  polite- 
ness and  courtesy. 

He  pushed  on  beyond  the  Murchison  Cataracts, 
and  explored  parts  of  the  hill-country  to  the  east 
of  the  Shir^,  in  the  district  where  the  Blantyre 
Mission  now  stands.  He  recognised  the  compara- 
tive healthiness  and  rich  resources  of  what  is  now  a 
prosperous  Scottish  settlement  of  coffee-planters, 
traders,  and  missionaries.  It  was  a  sore  disappoint- 
ment to  him  that  lack  of  money  v/ould  not  allow 
him  to  visit  Lake  Nyasa,  though  he  was  within 
fifty  miles  from  it.  Of  this  journey  he  writes: 
'  Except  these  two  missionary  travellers  (himself 
and  a  member  of  the  Universities'  Mission)  there 
was  not  probably  at  that  time  a  single  white  man 
living  east  of  the  Shire  River  till  the  coast  is 
reached  ;  certainly  none  were  settled  in  the  country, 
and  northwards,  even  as  far  as  Victoria  Nyanza,  six 
hundred  miles,  no  trace  of  a  Christian  mission,  or 
even  of  a  white  man,  was  to  be  found.  It  was  a 
lonely  land  of  barbarism,  of  game  and  wild  beasts, 
of  timid  and  harried  but  not  unkindly  men,  harassed 
by  never-ending  slave-raids  and  intertribal  wars. 
We   saw  heaps   of  ashes,  broken    pottery,  a  good 


74  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

many  bones  but  no  bodies — the  hyenas  had  attended 
to  that.' 

On  the  Shire,  as  afterwards  on  the  upper  reaches 
of  the  Zambesi,  he  supported  himself  and  his  men 
chiefly  by  his  rifle.  His  menu  included,  besides 
the  ordinary  food  of  the  natives,  pigeons,  ducks, 
flamingoes,  and  hippopotamus  steaks.  It  was  his 
opinion  that  '  a  man  with  a  good  sound  appetite 
would  enjoy  a  roast  sirloin  of  hippopotamus.'  Many 
of  the  districts  he  visited  were  sorely  stricken  with 
famine,  and  he  was  often  hunger-bitten.  Men  travel 
in  that  region  now  with  almost  all  the  comforts  of 
home. 

Before  leaving  for  Africa  he  had  given  an  address 
in  the  Town  Hall  of  Manchester,  in  which  he  gave 
his  reasons  for  hoping  that  a  supply  of  cotton  might 
be  obtained  from  Zambesiland.  This  speech  had 
evidently  created  a  real  interest.  His  Journal  con- 
tains a  long  paper  with  the  title  '  Report  for  Cotton 
Supply  Association,  Manchester,  in  Reply  to  Queries 
sent  on  June  24,  1861.'  He  found  small  patches  of 
cotton  in  the  Shir6  valley,  and  also  native  weavers, 
but  so  lazy  were  the  natives  that  only  about  one  in 
twenty  was  wearing  cotton,  while  all  the  rest  were 
clothed  only  with  bark,  probably  the  most  uncom- 
fortable garment  a  human  being  can  wear.  The 
substance  of  his  report  was,  that  the  Shir6  valley 
was  admirably  fitted  for  the  growing  of  cotton,  but 
that  it  could  not  be  cultivated  till  there  was  a 
settled  government,  and  the  natives  had  been  taught 
to  work.^  '  The  examination  of  the  country,  especi- 
ally of  the  Shir^  highlands,  left  the  impression  of 

^  It  is  now  believed  that  Central  Africa  has  soil  capable  of  pro- 
ducing cotton  enough  to  keep  all  the  spinning-mills  in  the  world  at 
work. 


AN  EXPLORER'S  ADVENTURES     75 

its  great  beauty,  the  comparative  healthiness  of  the 
higher  districts,  and  the  undoubted  fertility  of  its 
rich  valleys,  but  it  was  at  that  time  a  land  laid 
waste  by  slaving  wars,  as  has  happened  times  with- 
out number  to  many  of  the  fairest  portions  of  the 
African  continent.' 

On  this  expedition  he  was  often  grazed  by  death. 
Sleeping  on  the  banks  of  the  Shire  one  night,  he 
awoke  to  find  a  large  python  lying  coiled  up  upon 
him.  He  seized  his  gun,  the  reptile  moved  off,  and 
a  hole  in  the  ground  was  the  only  result  of  the 
shot. 

Once  his  canoe  was  upset,  and  he  got  entangled 
with  some  ropes,  and  nearly  lost  his  life.  When 
almost  drowned,  the  thought  flashed  through  his 
mind,  'Well,  well,  is  this  to  be  the  end  of  it  all? 
No,  it  cannot  be.'  He  made  another  struggle  ;  help 
arrived,  and  he  was  saved. 

On  September  25th,  1862,  after  an  absence  of  three 
months,  he  returned  to  Shupanga,  and  a  fortnight 
afterwards  he  started  to  explore  the  Zambesi.  He 
visited  Senna  and  Tete,  and  reached  the  Kcbrabasa 
Rapids.  Only  with  great  difficulty  could  he  guide 
the  canoe  through  the  labyrinths  of  small  sandy 
islands,  and  often  his  men  lost  control  of  the 
boat,  and,  like  all  Africans  in  trouble,  they  'stood 
calling  on  their  mothers  when  they  should  be  exert- 
ing themselves.' 

'We  spent  Christmas  Day  of  1862  digging  with 
a  party  of  natives  into  the  coal  seams,  three  of  which 
lie  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Zambesi,  a  few  miles 
from  Tete.  Some  specimens  of  the  coal  thus  dug 
may  possibly  still  be  found  in  the  Museum  of  the 
University  of  Glasgow,  as  some  were  sent  there  on 
my  return.  .  .  .  The  partition  of  Africa — the  most 


76  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

stupendous  division  of  the  earth's  surface  which  has 
ever  taken  place — was  then  not  even  thought  of.' 

On  foot  he  examined  the  country  on  both  sides 
of  the  nver,  some  parts  of  which  reminded  him  of 
the  Danube.  *  He  did  all  this,'  Livingstone  says, 
'with  most  praiseworthy  energy,  and  in  spite  of 
occasional  attacks  of  fever.' 

He  was  then  convinced  that  any  future  mission 
should  be  northwards  on  the  line  of  the  Shird,  and 
not  westwards  on  the  line  of  the  Zambesi.  This 
conviction  practically  settled  the  site  of  the  two 
great  missions  of  Livingstonia  and  Blantyre. 

Travel  in  Central  Africa  then  was  travail  indeed. 
Stewart  had  endured  great  hardships  and  suffered 
severely  from  numberless  attacks  of  that  malarial 
fever  which  plays  with  its  victim  as  a  cat  plays  with 
a  mouse,  and  which  the  Africans  call  '  the  father  of 
knees.'  Tropical  medicine  had  not  then  limited  its 
ravages.  It  had  desolated  the  Universities'  Mission, 
brought  down  to  the  grave  some  who  were  by  his 
side,  and  thinned  Livingstone's  small  force.  At 
first  he  could  'drive  off'  its  attacks,  but  by-and-by 
it  mastered  him,  and  only  did  not  kill  him.  But 
his  spirit  triumphed  over  his  body,  and,  like  Living- 
stone in  his  last  years,  he  would  not  yield.  He 
believed  that  activity  was  the  best  prophylactic. 
Once  when  he  rose  in  the  morning  he  fell  on  the 
floor,  yet  he  marched  on.  Some  of  the  attacks 
lasted  for  weeks,  and  made  him  unconscious.  '  My 
knees,'  he  writes,  'are  relaxed ;  what  is  the  Homeric 
expression  ?  Fever  and  mental  depression  go  as 
certainly  together  as  fever  and  sweat.'  Still  he 
writes :  '  The  hardship,  fatigue,  fever,  and  hunger 
I  have  suffered  are  nothing  in  comparison  with  the 
end   to   be   gained.'      He   owns   that   he   had   '  the 


CONTEMPT  OF  DANGERS  77 

malady  of  thought — looking  forward  too  far '  when 
in  fever,  and  resolves  to  fight  against  '  this  subjec- 
tivity.' He  arrived  at  Shupanga  on  New  Year's 
Day,  1863,  and  in  a  month  he  turned  homewards. 

'  Considering  the  way  we  lived,'  he  writes,  '  the 
wonder  is  we  were  ever  free  from  fever.  We  carried 
no  tents,  but  slept  in  the  open  when  dry,  in  the 
canoe  when  it  rained,  and  its  position  being  down 
in  the  river,  sometimes  alongside  a  bank  of  reeds, 
the  sleeper  was  in  the  best  situation  to  become  well 
soaked  with  malaria.  Except  tea  and  coffee,  we 
carried  no  civilised  provisions,  but  depended  mainly 
on  what  could  be  got  in  the  country.  A  little 
wheaten  bread  was  therefore  often  the  greatest 
luxury.' 

It  is  not  easy  for  us  to  realise  the  courage  of  his 
enterprise.  For  weeks  he  had  been  battling  with 
the  most  powerful  of  terrorising  influences — uncer- 
tainty, the  fear  of  destitution,  unknown  dangers, 
home-sickness,  solitude,  and  that  terrible  fever  which 
magnifies  every  peril,  and  weakens  all  the  powers 
of  resistance.  But  he  seems  never  to  have  given 
in.  His  was  the  temper  of  those  whom  Lowell 
describes : 

'  The  brave  makes  danger  opportunity  ; 
The  waverer,  paltering  with  the  chance  sublime, 
Dwarfs  it  to  peril.' 

In  defiance  of  all  his  hardships  his  report  regarding 
the  proposed  mission  was,  '  It  can  be  accomplished.' 
In  the  beginning  of  February,  1863,  after  many 
vexing  delays,  he  reached  Ouilimane.  By  piecing 
together  his  Journal  and  his  letters,  we  gain  a  vivid 
portrait  of  the  wanderer.  He  is  in  a  canoe  with  six 
native  rowers  ;  clad  with  '  honourable  rags,'  like  Grant 
and  Speke  when  they  emerged  from  Central  Africa, 


78  STEWART  OF  LOVE  DALE 

and  like  Mackay  of  Uganda  when  Stanley  visited 
him  ;  soaked  by  four  days  of  ceaseless  tropical  rains, 
which  had  put  out  the  fire  in  the  canoe  and  damped 
all  the  firewood  ;  all  his  blankets  dripping ;  with  no 
cloth  and  few  goods  of  any  value ;  less  than  £^  in 
his  pocket ;  half-dead  with  fever ;  his  head  like  a 
lump  of  lead,  and  his  eyesight  impaired ;  solitary, 
but  with  his  duty  j  and  that  was  enough  for  him. 
When  he  landed  at  night,  he  could  hardly  walk, 
and  was  not  sure  of  any  shelter,  for  not  one  of  his 
fellow-countrymen  was  then  in  the  town  :  there  was 
no  hotel,  and  he  knew  the  name  of  only  one  inhabi- 
tant. During  six  weary  weeks,  remote  and  friendless, 
he  walked  daily  down  to  the  beach,  and  looked 
for  a  ship  coming  up  the  river.  At  last  he  got  off 
in  a  miserable  little  Indian  vessel,  and  reached 
Mozambique,  where  he  had  to  wait  other  six  weeks. 

One  blessed  afternoon,  the  Gorgon  sailed  into 
Mozambique,  and  Stewart  was  soon  on  board.  He 
tells  how  it  then  fared  with  him  :  '  In  a  very  short  time 
I  was  on  the  deck  of  the  Gorgon  and  met  Captain 
Wilson.  He  stared  at  me  without  sign  of  recogni- 
tion. Whether  I  was  so  much  altered  that  he  gazed 
upon  me  as  if  fifteen  years  had  passed  instead  of 
fifteen  months  since  we  last  met,  I  do  not  know. 
But  I  had  to  tell  him  who  I  was  and  what  I  wanted 
— the  favour  of  being  taken  on  board  his  ship  and 
landed  at  any  port,  south  or  north,  where  he 
might  be  going,  by  preference  at  some  British  port, 
whence  I  might  be  able  to  reach  home.  Nothing 
could  exceed  his  kindly  welcome  when  he  did 
recognise  me.' 

Captain  Wilson  described  him  as  being  then  more 
'like  a  bag  of  bones  than  a  man.'  Scarcely  any- 
thing but  the   bony   framework   was    left   on  him. 


EXPLORER  AND  EMPIRE-BUILDER         79 

This  bag  of  bones  the  Captain  conveyed  to  East 
London. 

At  the  request  of  Dr.  Duff  he  visited  several 
missions  in  Kaffraria.  His  splendid  constitution 
soon  rallied  amid  the  inspiring  sea-breezes  during 
the  voyage,  and  the  generous  and  invigorating  ozone 
of  that  radiant  land,  '  the  white  man's  sanatorium.' 

He  reached  Scotland  after  an  absence  of  nearly 
two  and  a  half  years  of  hazardous  work.  For  that 
work  he  had  not  received  nor  expected  any  salary. 
Moreover,  out  of  his  patrimony,  he  had  borne  more 
than  one-fourth  of  the  whole  expenses  of  the  ex- 
pedition. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  chapter  it  was  stated 
that  Stewart's  life  now  broadened  into  history.  That 
was  no  exaggeration,  for  his  explorations  in  Central 
Africa  contributed  in  several  ways  to  the  overthrow 
of  the  slave-trade,  the  expansion  of  our  Empire,  and 
the  Pax  Britannica.  An  article  in  the  Scotsman,  on 
May  18,  1899,  describes  the  Protectorate  of  British 
Central  Africa,^  and  adds :  '  To  two  men  is  that  due, 
in  the  first  instance  to  David  Livingstone,  and  to 
Dr.  James  Stewart.'  Stewart  thus  helped  to  make 
the  Zambesi  what  Lord  Clarendon  desired  it  to  be, 
'  God's  highway  for  all  nations.'  And  these  two 
years  of  pioneering  fitted  him  to  be  the  Founder  of 
Livingstonia. 

With  words  strangely  prophetic,  he  closes  his 
article  in  the  Sunday  Magazine  (written  in  1874  and 
1875,  when  he  was  advocating  the  Livingstonia 
Mission) :  '  To  these  sketches  the  practical  epilogue 
is   Livingstonia.'      After  describing  the  features  of 

^  Lord  Salisbury  resolved  to  form  this  Protectorate  in  consequence 
of  information  supplied  to  him  at  his  request  by  representatives  of  the 
Scottish  missions  in  Central  Africa. 


8o  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

the  combined  mission,  he  adds :  '  It  would  be  a 
centre  of  civilisation  and  good  government,  and 
even  now  it  would  become  one  of  the  most  effective 
checks  on  the  slave-trade,  by  cutting  off  the  supply- 
in  its  own  home.  It  would  certainly  prove  more 
effective  than  the  maintenance  of  one,  or  of  several 
ships  of  war  on  the  coast.  ...  In  a  few  weeks  it  is 
hoped  that  a  compact  party  under  an  experienced 
leader  will  be  on  their  way  to  establish  Livingstonia. 
The  enterprise  is  one  both  difficult  and  perilous. 
But  nothing  great  in  Africa  or  elsewhere  was  ever 
done  but  in  contempt  of  danger.  ...  If  God  grant 
His  blessing,  there  is  no  calculating  whereunto  the 
enterprise  might  reach.  It  ought  to  grow  and 
expand,  diffusing  itself  like  leaven,  reproducing  itself 
like  seed,  and  leading  to  great  and  momentous 
issues.' 

How  soon  and  how  amazingly  have  these  great 
hopes  been  fulfilled  !  With  Stewart,  as  with  his  chief, 
the  end  of  the  geographical  feat  was  only  the 
beginning  of  the  missionary  enterprise.  Elijah's 
mantle  had  fallen  on  the  shoulders  of  the  young 
Elisha,  and  the  heart's  desire  of  the  master  was 
granted. 


CHAPTER    IX 

THE   ZAMBESIAN,    1 862-63 

His  Chief  Aim — An  Explorer — His  Apprenticeship— Two 
Letters  from  Livingstone — 'Hell's  Highway' — Methods 
with  the  Natives — A  Good  Laugher — Human  Brotherhood 
— How  Gods  are  Made. 

'As  for  me,  I  am  determined  to  open  up  Africa,  or  perish' 

— Livingstone. 
'  Trade  in  Africa  has  been  in  two  ivories,  white  and  black — slaves  and 
elephants'  tusks.' — General  Gordon. 

'Misfortune,  that  grand  instructress  of  impatient  men.' — Dr.  Stewart's 
Journal. 

In  his  Journal  Stewart  describes  himself  as  *a 
Zambesian.'  He  was  a  Zambesian  in  that  nobler 
than  geographical  sense  in  which  a  student  at 
Oxford  is  called  an  Oxonian.  In  Zambesiland  he 
served  an  apprenticeship  without  which,  so  far  as 
we  can  see,  he  could  not  have  been  the  successful 
founder  of  Livingstonia,  nor  the  pioneer  of  the 
East  African  Mission.  His  whole  after-life  was 
greatly  enriched  by  the  unique  experiences  of  these 
days. 

While  he  owed  much  to  Livingstone,  he  was 
largely  a  self-taught  expert  in  African  affairs.  His 
admiration  of  Livingstone  was  great,  and  it  was  the 
admiration  of  a  kindred  spirit.  It  was  his  desire  to 
carry  forward  the  moral  and  missionary  side  of 
Livingstone's    work.       On    leaving    for   Africa    he 

F 


82  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

wrote :  *  I  give  my  life  to  work  out  his  (Living- 
stone's) ideas  if  they  are  practicable,  that  is,  if 
climate  and  national  position  will  permit.  I  have 
left  my  chance  of  a  good  position  at  home.  Health 
must  be  given  up  to  whatever  risks,  etc.,  and  a  huge 
amount  of  labour  undergone.' 

Stewart's  grand  tour  during  these  two  wander- 
years  had  an  immense  influence  over  him.  He  then 
gained  his  diploma  as  an  explorer.  His  services  in 
this  field  were  fittingly  recognised  when  he  was 
made,  like  Livingstone,  an  Honorary  Fellow  of  the 
Geographical  Society.  He  was  among  the  very  last 
of  the  interesting  order  of  explorers.  For  little  room 
is  now  left  in  our  little  planet  for  the  pioneer  save 
amid  the  snows  of  the  North  and  South  Poles. 
Tibet  was  the  last  of  the  great  explorations  possible 
in  this  world.  The  would-be  explorer  may  now, 
Alexander-like,  sit  down  and  mourn  that  there  are 
no  unknown  regions  to  conquer. 

Stewart,  like  Livingstone,  was  a  born  traveller. 
African  travel  was  far  more  dangerous  then  than  it 
is  now.  It  is  plain  that  he  had  the  courage  that  can 
serenely  face  formless  and  unknown  perils,  and  is 
thus  greater  than  the  physical  courage  of  the  soldier 
on  the  battlefield.  Strong  in  him  also  was  that 
craving  to  get  beyond  the  limits  of  the  known,  which 
distinguished  his  Viking  forefathers  in  the  Saga 
times.  But  his  love  of  adventure  and  travel  was 
only  the  obedient  and  helpful  handmaid  of  a  nobler 
passion.  In  him  the  missionary  came  before  the 
explorer,  and  both  were  combined.  It  was  not  the 
Spirit  of  travel  that  whispered  in  his  heart,  but  the 
voice  that  still  speaks  from  heaven  to  him  who  has 
an  ear  to  hear,  and  to  which  James  had  responded 
as  he  was  leaning  on  his  plough. 


THE  TESTS  OF  AFRICAN  TRAVEL  83 

His  powers  had  been  tested  and  developed  by 
his  hard  African  experiences.  Stanley  and  other 
African  travellers  have  noted  that  African  travel 
reveals  a  European's  character  more  than  any  other 
mode  of  life  does.  Stewart  endorses  that  view,  for 
he  wrote  :  '  African  travel  tries  to  the  utmost  every 
power  and  quality  a  man  possesses — his  temper, 
teeth  and  tact,  his  patience,  purse  and  perseverance, 
all  alike  heavily.'  These  tests  helped  to  make  him 
the  strong  and  self-reliant  man  he  became. 

He  had  already  gained  a  rich  treasure  of  African 
experience  which  qualified  him  to  speak  with  decision 
and  authority  upon  the  conditions  of  travel,  life,  and 
missions  in  that  land.  He  was  thus  delivered  from 
the  tentative  timidities  and  those  initial  mistakes 
which  brought  disaster  to  more  than  one  mission  in 
Central  Africa.  No  other  man  in  Scotland  was  then 
so  well  qualified  as  a  pioneer  of  missions,  to  smooth 
the  path  for  others. 

On  the  Zambesi  he  was  introduced  to  three  men 
who  rendered  essential  service  at  the  founding  of 
Livingstonia.  These  were  Mr.  Edward  D.  Young, 
R.N.,  Captain  Wilson,  R.N.,  and  the  Rev.  Horace 
Waller. 

His  life  was  enriched  through  his  comradeship 
with  Livingstone,  who  often  said  :  '  I  am  very  glad 
that  you  have  come,'  ^  and  he  advised  about  all  the 
details  of  the  proposed  mission.  He  strongly  re- 
commended Nyasaland  as  the  best  centre  whence 
the  great  Light  should  shine  forth  on  Darkest  Africa. 
He  much  desired  that  'that  most  energetic  body' 
(as  he  called    it),   'the    Free  Church,'  would    soon 

1  When  in  Bombay,  Livingstone  'spoke  very  kindly  of  Stewart, 
and  seems  to  hope  that  he  may  yet  join  him  in  Central  Africa.'— 
Blaikie's  Life  of  Livingstone,  p.  362. 


84  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

occupy  the  field.  And  he  gave  the  strongest  possible 
proof  of  his  appreciation  of  his  young  companion. 
He  wrote  to  him  :  '  If  the  Government  pays  for  the 
Lady  Nyasa '  (a  steamer  built  at  his  own  expense), 
'  I  shall  be  in  a  position  to  offer  you  all  your  expenses 
out,  and  ;^I50  a  year  afterwards.  It  will  be  well- 
spent  money  if  we  check  the  slave-trade  on  the  lake, 
whoever  pays  for  it,'  So  eager  was  he  to  see  the 
mission  begun  at  once. 

In  a  letter  to  the  Foreign  Mission  Committee  of 
the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  Dr.  Livingstone  set 
forth  the  very  serious  difficulties  a  new  mission  must 
encounter  in  Central  Africa.  He  then  adds  this 
pregnant  postscript : — 

^March  i,  1862. 
'  I  have  shown  this  (letter)  to  Mr.  Stewart  who  is 
now  with  us,  and  I  would  add  that  my  remarks  are 
framed  to  meet  the  eyes  of  the  ordinary  run  of 
missionaries ;  but  for  such  a  man  as  Mr.  Stewart  I 
would  say  there  are  no  serious  obstacles  in  the  way.' 

He  also  wrote  the  following  letter  to  Dr.Candlish: — 
'Shupanga,  Zambesi,  March  12,  1862. 

'  I  am  happy  to  inform  you  that  Mr.  Stewart 
arrived  off  the  mouth  of  this  river  on  the  last  day  of 
January,  and  as  it  appeared  that  the  most  satisfactory 
way  of  going  to  work  would  be  for  him  to  come  and 
see  the  country  and  people  with  his  own  eyes,  I 
invited  him  to  accompany  us  while  trying  to  take  a 
steamer  up  to  Lake  Nyasa.  ...  I  have  given  Mr. 
Stewart  a  hearty  welcome  and  rejoice  in  the  prospect 
of  another  mission  where  there  is  so  much  room  for 
work.  Nineteen  thousand  slaves  pass  annually 
through  the  custom-house  of  Zanzibar,  and  the  chief 


LIVINGSTONE'S  ESTIMATE  OF  STEWART    85 

portion  of  them  comes  from  Lake  Nyasa.  We  hope 
to  do  something  towards  stopping  this  traffic,  but  it 
is  only  by  Christian  missions  and  example  that  the 
evil  can  be  thoroughly  rooted  out. 

'  From  all  I  have  observed  of  Mr.  Stewart  he  seems 
to  have  been  specially  raised  up  for  this  work,  and 
specially  well  adapted  for  it.  Before  becoming 
acquainted  with  him  I  spoke  cautiously,  perhaps 
gave  too  much  prominence  to  difficulties  of  which  I 
myself  make  small  account,  and  may  have  been  led 
to  it  by  having  seen  missionaries  come  out  with 
curious  notions ;  willing  to  endure  hardships,  but 
grumbling  like  mountains  in  labour  when  put  about 
by  things  that  they  did  not  expect ;  but  to  such  a 
man  (Mr.  Stewart),  I  would  say  boldly,  "  Go  forward, 
and  with  the  divine  blessing  you  will  surely  succeed." ' 

We  also  add  two  letters  of  Dr.  Livingstone  to 
Stewart. 

The  first  was  addressed  to  '  the  Rev.  James 
Stewart  in  Nubibus,  or  elsewhere ' : — 

'  Shupanga,  December  24,  1862. 
*  Possibly  I  underestimate  difficulties,  and  I  may 
not  fully  realise  those  which  must  be  encountered 
by  the  men  who  will  be  honoured  to  introduce  the 
Gospel  into  the  centre  of  the  slave-market  of  Eastern 
Africa.  But  were  I  young  again,  and  planning  how 
I  could  best  lay  out  my  life,  without  hesitation  I 
would  go  in  for  this  new  field  of  missionary  labour. 
If  an  efficient  minister  settles  in  almost  any  parish 
at  home,  or  goes  to  India  or  other  country  where 
he  could  enter  into  other  men's  labours,  the  conver- 
sions that  may  be  attributed  to  the  labours  of  his 
life  might  probably  far  outnumber  those  which  may 
result  directly  from  your  efforts  here.     But  I  believe 


86  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

that  work  here  would  eventually  tend  most  to  the 
advancement  of  the  Kingdom.  I  undervalue  the 
preaching  of  the  Cross  nowhere.  The  case,  however, 
under  consideration  seems  to  be  very  much  that  of  a 
professor  of  theology  giving  up  the  pastorate  and 
direct  effort  to  save  souls  in  order  that,  by  preparing 
other  minds  for  the  work,  he  may  indirectly  convert 
a  hundredfold  more  than  he  otherwise  could  have 
done. 

'The  effects  of  missions  are  cumulative.  You 
here  begin  a  work  which  in  influence  and  power  will 
go  on  increasing  to  the  end  of  time.  Much  good 
will  also  be  done  in  the  way  of  eradicating  the  slave- 
trade,  and  in  wiping  out  guilt  which  we  as  a  nation 
contracted.  Africa  must  be  Christianised  from 
within  outwards,  and  those  who  help  to  overcome 
the  great  obstacles  now  presented  will,  as  men  speak, 
deserve  the  most  credit.  ...  I  suppose  you  have 
more  pluck  than  that.  But  do  it  who  will,  the 
Gospel  will  be  planted. 

'  In  conclusion,  I  would  say  that,  were  I  in  your 
case,  I  should  place  myself  without  reserve  in  the 
hands  of  my  elders — men  anxious  to  do  just  that 
which  will  best  promote  the  cause  of  Christianity 
which  they  have  at  heart.  Taking  it  as  a  fact  that, 
if  two  of  such  men  agree  as  touching  a  matter  and 
ask  the  Hearer  of  Prayer,  the  request  will  be  granted, 
how  much  more  when  a  large  number  of  Christ's 
people  agree  to  ask  His  guidance.  Wisdom  will,  of 
course,  be  granted.  May  the  All-Wise  One  direct 
your  steps.' 

The  second  was  addressed  to  Stewart  at  Quili- 
manc,  'or  wherever  he  may  be  found  (ou  onde 
estiver).' 


THE  DEVIL'S  REIGN  ON  THE  SHIR6       87 

'  River  Shir6, 
'■February  19,  1863. 

'  My  dear  Sir, — I  am  very  sorry  to  hear  from 
Mr.  Procter  that  you  have  been  very  ill  after  we  left 
Shupanga,  but  I  hope  the  change  to  Vianna's  will 
be  beneficial.  I  was  so  eager  to  get  up  to  our  work 
that  I  may  have  seemed  heartless  in  leaving  you  at 
all,  but  you  appeared  to  have  got  over  the  attack  of 
fever,  and  I  expected  you  to  recover  soon,  and  hoped 
that  you  would  have  experienced  the  beneficial 
effects  which  usually  attend  a  change  of  residence, 
in  this  complaint.  I  earnestly  trust  that  you  are 
better. 

'The  country  is  completely  disorganised  and  a 
new  system  must  be  introduced  with  a  strong  hand. 
We  have  counted  thirty-two  dead  bodies  floating 
down  the  stream,  and  scarcely  a  soul  is  to  be  seen 
in  the  lower  Shir^  valley. 

'  I  never  witnessed  such  a  change.  It  is  a  desert, 
and  dead  bodies  are  everywhere.  I  fear  that  your 
friends  may  find  in  the  deaths  and  disorders  reasons 
for  declining  all  share  in  the  work  of  renovation,  but 
it  will  be  done  by  those  who  are  to  do  it,  and  the 
devil's  reign  must  cease. 

'  Be  sure  and  let  me  know  how  our  Free  Church- 
men deal  with  the  important  question  you  will  bring 
before  them.' 

Livingstone  also  gave  Stewart  a  letter  in  which 
he  said,  '  While  confidently  recommending  him  to 
the  kind  offices  of  our  countrymen,  I  declare  myself 
ready  to  pay  any  expenses  he  may  incur  in  his 
passage  to  the  Cape  or  homewards.' 

Stewart  fully  sympathised  with  his  chiefs  detesta- 
tion of  slavery.     In  1859  Livingstone  explored  the 


88  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

Shird  River,  which  till  then  had  been  absolutely 
unknown,  and  he  also  discovered  Lakes  Shirwa 
and  Nyasa.  The  Shir^  valley  had  then  a  teeming 
population.  Stewart  visited  it  in  1862,  and  found 
everywhere  traces  of  desolation.  He  denounces  in 
the  most  energetic  language  the  Portuguese  who 
had  hired  one  warlike  tribe  to  enslave  their  neigh- 
bours. '  The  truth  is  from  the  Zambesi  to  Lake 
Nyasa  on  the  north  and  east  banks  of  the  river, 
there  is  nothing  but  slaving — Africans  selling  each 
other.  .  .  .  The  Ajawa  are  in  their  pay,  and  attack 
village  after  village  of  the  Manganja.  They  kill 
the  men  and  sell  the  women  and  children.  When 
men  are  taken,  they  are  sold  for  five  yards  of  calico 
(2s.  6d.),  women  for  two  yards  (is.  in  value).  The 
Portuguese  are  at  the  bottom  of  all  the  fighting  that 
has  occurred.' 

In  the  end  of  1862  Livingstone  steamed  up  the 
Shir^  with  the  Pioneer,  having  in  tow  the  Lady 
Nyasa,  which  he  hoped  to  launch  on  Lake  Nyasa,^ 
the  key  of  Central  Africa.  On  every  side  he  found 
heartrending  evidences  of  recent  slave-raiding.  The 
air  was  darkened  with  vultures  ;  hyenas  abounded  ; 
bodies  too  numerous  for  the  over-gorged  crocodiles 
and  alligators  to  devour,  floated  down  the  stream 
and  clogged  the  paddles  of  the  steamers.  '  Blood, 
blood,  everywhere  blood,'  Livingstone  wrote  in 
agony  of  soul.  Of  such  scenes  he  wrote  :  *  It  gave 
me  the  impression  of  being  in  Hell.  ...  It  felt  to 
me  like  Gehenna  without  the  fire  and  brimstone.' 
To  him  the  slaves'  route  was  '  hell's  highway.' 

Mr.  E.  D.  Young,  who  was  then  with  Livingstone, 
told  at  a  meeting  in  Glasgow  that  he  saw  a  woman 
in  a  slave-gang  sinking  down  exhausted.     She  had 

^  In  this  he  was  sadly  disappointed. 


LIVINGSTONE'S  ADVICE  89 

a  load  on  her  head  and  a  baby  on  her  back.  The 
slave-driver  asked  her  if  she  could  go  on.  She 
shook  her  head.  He  then  took  her  baby,  dashed  its 
head  af^ainst  a  tree,  flung  its  quivering  body  on  the 
ground,  and  ordered  the  mother  to  take  up  her 
load. 

Stewart  closely  studied  Livingstone's  methods 
with  the  natives.  Here  is  an  extract  from  the 
report  of  a  speech  of  Stewart's  in  1875:  'Without 
mentioning  any  names,  he  wished,  as  a  man  and  as 
an  African  missionary,  to  take  this  opportunity 
before  this  venerable  Assembly  which  represented 
so  large  a  section  of  public  opinion  in  Scotland,  of 
uttering  his  solemn  protest  against  all  explorations 
carried  on  in  Africa  by  means  of  force  and  bloodshed. 
It  was  necessary  to  open  up  Africa,  but  it  was  not 
necessary  to  leave  their  footsteps  tracked  in  blood. 
When  first,  to  quote  a  line  from  the  "  March  of  the 
Cameron  Men,"  he  "  followed  his  chief  to  the  field  " 
— he  meant  the  great  chief  of  African  exploration, 
David  Livingstone,  who  had  traversed  more  of  Africa 
than  any  man,  living  or  dead — he  had  got  some 
advice  from  him  (Dr.  Livingstone)  which  he  after- 
wards followed.  That  advice  was,  never  to  shed 
blood  unless  he  was  certain  his  own  would  otherwise 
be  shed ;  and  with  any  quite  new  or  strange  people, 
it  was  better  to  retire  for  a  little  than  bring  on  a 
collision.' 

Stewart  soon  discovered  the  secret  of  his  master's 
power  over  the  natives.  He  soon  learnt  that  the  surest 
way  to  establish  confidence  among  the  Africans  was 
to  show  it  yourself  by  meeting  them  with  frankness 
and  geniality.  In  his  Journal  he  writes:  'Simple  acts 
of  courtesy  and  kindness  are  never  lost  even  among 
savage  people.'   Livingstone  agreed  with  Dr.  Samuel 


90  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

Johnson,  who  held  that  every  man  may  be  judged  of 
by  his  laughter;  with  Carlyle,  who  says  that '  no  man 
who  has  once  heartily  and  wholly  laughed,  can  be 
altogether  irreclaimably  bad ' ;  and  with  Sir  Walter 
Scott,  who  used  to  say,  '  give  me  an  honest  laugher.' 
Whenever  he  (Livingstone)  had  observed  a  chief 
with  a  joyous  twinkle  of  the  eye  accompanying  his 
laugh,  he  always  set  him  down  as  a  good  fellow, 
and  had  never  been  disappointed  in  him  afterwards. 
'  An  ill-natured  or  vicious  fellow  would  not  laugh  in 
that  way,'  was  his  remark  regarding  such  a  laugher. 
The  clever  chief  Chibisa,  whom  Stewart  visited,  he 
thus  describes  :  *  A  jolly  person,  who  laughs  easily, 
which  is  always  a  good  sign.  Chibisa  believed 
firmly  in  two  things :  the  divine  right  of  Kings,  and 
the  impossibility  that  Chibisa  should  ever  be  in  the 
wrong.'  .  .  .  Livingstone  evidently  made  a  great 
impression  on  Chibisa  ;  like  other  chiefs  he  began  to 
fall  under  the  spell  of  his  influence.  Concerning 
another  chief  Stewart  says :  '  As  a  laughing  fellow 
we  felt  safe  with  him.  If  a  fellow  laughs  you  know 
that  you  are  likely  to  be  well  off:  an  ill-natured  or 
vicious  man  does  not,  nor  do  great  potentates.' 

He  saw  also  that  Livingstone  treated  every  black 
man  as  if  he  were  a  blood-relation.  He  tells  that 
'Livingstone  saluted  the  poorest  with  a  very  pleasant 
smile,  and  raised  his  gold-laced  cap  (the  badge  of 
his  high  office)  a  little  above  his  head.  Before  the 
poorest  African  he  maintained  self-restraint  and  self- 
respect  as  carefully  as  in  the  best  society  at  home.'^ 

^  I  once  remarked  to  an  aged  woman  who  knew  Livingstone  in  his 
youth,  that  in  one  of  his  books  he  says  that  he  had  always  used  his 
mother's  methods  in  managing  the  natives.  'Ay,  an'  ye  may  be  sure,' 
she  added,  '  that  Dauvid  used  his  mither's  tones  tae.  He  was  by- 
ordinar'  saft  spoken,  and  gin  ye  had  shut  yer  een,  ye  wad  hae  thocht 
that  it  was  juist  his  mither  hersel'  speakin',  guid  woman.' 


COURTESY  TO  SAVAGES  91 

His  keen  sense  of  human  brotherhood  secured  a 
never-failing  princely  courtesy  towards  the  blacks. 
They  loved  him  as  the  white  man  who  treated  black 
men  as  his  brothers.  *  If  some  travellers  have  en- 
graved their  names  on  the  rocks  and  tree  trunks,  he 
has  engraved  his  in  the  very  hearts  of  the  heathen 
population  of  Central  Africa.  Wherever  Livingstone 
has  passed,  the  name  of  missionary  is  a  passport  and 
a  recommendation.'     (Coillard.) 

Livingstone  says:  'When  a  chief  has  made  any 
inquiries  of  us,  we  have  found  that  we  gave  most 
satisfaction  in  our  answers  when  we  tried  to  fancy 
ourselves  in  the  position  of  the  interrogator,  and 
him  that  of  a  poor,  uneducated  fellow-countryman 
in  England.  The  polite,  respectful  way  of  speaking, 
and  behaviour  of  what  we  call  "  a  thorough  gentle- 
man," almost  always  secures  the  friendship  and 
goodwill  of  the  Africans.  ...  It  ought  never  to  be 
forgotten  that  influence  among  the  heathen  can  be 
acquired  only  by  patient  continuance  in  well-doing, 
and  that  good  manners  are  as  necessary  among 
barbarians  as  among  the  civilised.'  Livingstone 
used  to  say  that  it  was  a  very  dangerous  thing  to 
despise  the  manhood  of  the  meanest  savage,  and 
that  some  white  men  he  had  known  had  lost  their 
lives  as  penalty  for  their  scorn. 

These  facts  help  us  to  understand  how  the  image 
of  Livingstone  is  cherished  and  deified  in  the 
tenacious  and  grateful  heart  of  Ethiopia,  and  also 
how  men  were  canonised  as  saints  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  and  how  gods  were  manufactured  out  of 
heroic  men  in  the  childhood  of  our  race.  Full  light 
is  shed  on  this  interesting  subject  in  these  two 
admirable  books — Coillard  of  the  Zambesi,  p.  272, 
etc.,  and  also  Coiilard's  On  the  Threshold  of  Central 


92  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

Africa,  p.  60.  We  there  learn  how  Livingstone  is 
clothed  with  divine  virtues,  and  set  forth  in  celestial 
proportions.  The  old  people  were  never  tired  of 
talking  about  him,  and  they  often  closed  their 
'  praise-words '  by  saying,  '  he  was  not  a  man,  he 
was  a  god.'  He  has  already  acquired  a  halo  of 
legendary  divinity. 

Stewart  closely  resembled  his  hero  in  his  unfailing 
reHance  upon  God  and  prayer  and  the  Bible  in  his 
hours  of  need.  Converse  with  God  in  African  soli- 
tudes had  fostered  his  piety,  his  self-knowledge,  and 
self-reliance.  Under  the  depression  of  fever  he  used 
to  calm  his  mind  by  prayer,  and  so  restore  it  to  a 
quiet  confidence  in  God.  In  one  of  his  journeys  he 
was  deserted  by  many  of  his  carriers  who  took  with 
them  some  articles  which  he  needed,  and  which  he 
could  not  replace.  He  thought  that  he  must  turn 
back  at  once.  But  on  that  day  he  was  reading 
Hebrews  xii.  i  :  '  Wherefore  seeing  we  also  are  com- 
passed about  with  so  great  a  cloud  of  witnesses  .  .  . 
let  us  run  with  patience  (endurance,  holding  on  and 
holding  out)  the  race  that  is  set  before  us,  looking 
unto  Jesus.'  The  words  came  to  him  as  on  angel's 
wings :  he  marched  right  on  and  reached  his  goal. 
From  the  very  first  he  bore  himself  as  a  hero  of  the 
Dark  Continent.^ 

In   the   originality  of  his   career,  in    tenacity  of 

'  There  is  an  exactly  parallel  passage  in  Stanley's  Darkest  Africa, 
vol.  i.  pp.  2  and  291.  Stanley  twice  describes  this  incident  at  length. 
He  says  regarding  one  of  his  greatest  dangers :  '  The  night  before  I 
had  been  reading  the  exhortation  of  Moses  to  Joshua,  and  whether  it 
was  the  effect  of  the  brave  words,  or  whether  it  was  a  voice  I  know 
not,  but  it  appeared  to  me  as  though  I  heard,  "Be  strong  and  of  a 
good  courage."  ...  I  could  have  sworn  that  I  heard  the  voice.  I 
began  to  argue  with  it,  and  it  replied,  "nevertheless,  be  strong  and  of 
a  good  courage."* 


GOD'S  VOICE  IN  AFRICA'S  SOLITUDES     93 

purpose,  in  his  habit  of  never  quaih'ng  before  difficul- 
ties, in  splendid  audacity  of  programme,  in  energy, 
in  sanctified  common-sense,  and  in  his  inexhaust- 
ible faith  in  the  elevation  of  the  African,  Stewart  set 
an  inspiring  example  to  missionary  pioneers.  One 
of  his  discoveries  was  that  to  him  to  whom  God 
is  a  Father,  every  land  may  become  a  fatherland. 

Central  Africa  was  thus  to  him  what  Arabia  was  to 
Paul — a  retreat  in  which  he  examined  his  own  heart, 
revised  his  life,  developed  the  self-reliance  which  is 
based  upon  the  reliance  of  faith,  and  sought  complete 
consecration  to  Christ  and  His  service.  In  these 
great  solitudes  he  had  his  musing  times  and  seasons 
of  sweet  thought,  and  heard  the  voice  of  God  more 
distinctly  than  elsewhere.  '  His  faith  in  God,  always 
strong,'  Dr.  Wallace  writes,  '  though  not  effusive,  was 
strengthened  by  his  experiences  of  the  solitary  life 
in  the  heart  of  Africa,  entirely  cut  off  from  Christian 
fellowship.  In  a  letter  to  me  written  when  his  only 
companion  was  a  native  boy,  he  said  that  he  had 
never  felt  so  near  heaven,  and  added  that  now  to 
him,  "  God,  holiness  and  heaven  are  the  only  things 
worth  living  for." ' 

'  Pain,  sorrow,  loss  he  deemed  not  wholly  ill, 
But  heaven's  high  solvents  to  release  God's  gold 
In  men  from  base  combines,  yea  to  unfold 
The  nobler  self  of  love,  faith,  Godward  will.' 


CHAPTER    X 

THE   STUDENT   OF   MEDICINE 

Edinburgh,  1859-61,        Glasgow,  1864-66. 

Native  Medicine — African  Faith-healing — Ordination — Fellow- 
students — A  Touching  Incident — A  Beautiful  Tribute. 

'  A  medical  missionary  is  a  missionary  and  a  half,  or  rather  a  double 
missionary." — Robert  Moffat. 

'The  angelic  conjunction  of  Medicine  with  Divinity.' — Cotton  Mather. 

'  Christ  is  the  Head  of  our  Profession,' — Sir  /.  Y.  Simpson. 

'  Heal  the  sick  that  are  therein  and  say  unto  them,  the  kingdom  of  God 
is  come  nigh  unto  you. ' — Jesus  Christ. 

Eager  to  equip  himself  for  every  side  of  mission- 
work,  James  Stewart  began  the  study  of  medicine 
in  Edinburgh,  immediately  after  he  had  left  the 
Divinity  Hall.  His  medical  studies  were  interrupted 
by  his  visit  to  Central  Africa,  but  on  his  return  he 
resumed  them — this  time  in  Glasgow — with  growing 
earnestness.  He  knew  that  the  foreign  missionary 
must  often  be  a  '  medicin  malgrd  lui,'  and  that 
medical  skill  can  open  most  closed  doors  in  heathen 
lands.  But  Africa  gave  him  a  new  conception  of 
medicine  as  an  ally  to  the  Gospel,  while  his  frequent 
fevers  taught  him  its  unspeakable  value  for  the  white 
man.  He  then  discovered  that  native  medicine  is 
one  of  the  mightiest  and  most  malignant  influences 
in  Africa.     The  doctor  there  is  the  priest,  the  tyrant 

04 


^LSy  f>i:>inhsion  oj  iilr.  7'.  I'isher  Univiii.) 

A    NATIVE   WITCH  DOCTOR 


AFRICAN  DOCTORS  95 

and  the  terror  of  the  people.  '  Quackery  and  the 
love  of  being  quacked,'  writes  Dr.  John  Brown,  'are 
in  human  nature  as  weeds  in  a  garden.'  As  Thomas 
Fuller  puts  it, 'Well  did  the  poets  feign  .^sculapius 
and  Circe  brother  and  sister,  children  of  the  Sun  ! 
for  in  all  times,  in  the  opinion  of  the  multitude, 
witches,  old  women,  and  impostors  have  had  a  com- 
petition with  physicians.'  But  the  situation  is  far 
worse  in  South  Africa,  as  the  witches,  impostors,  and 
physicians  are  all  the  same  and  have  no  rivals  or 
checks.  Magic  and  medicine  are  wedded,  the  priest 
and  the  doctor  are  one  person,  and  he  causes  infinitely 
more  diseases  than  he  cures. 

At  the  same  time  he  has  some  valuable  know- 
ledge in  certain  directions.  He  knows  the  pro- 
perties, poisonous  or  curative,  of  plants  unknown 
to  our  doctors,  has  acquired  some  natural  secrets, 
and  has  anticipated  some  modern  discoveries.  In 
his  own  rude  way  he  uses  suggestion,  mesmerism, 
and  faith-healing,  and  sometimes,  as  at  Lourdes  and 
other  wonder-working  resorts,  he  succeeds  :  '  for  in  so 
far  as  the  disease  is  a  lack  of  faith,'  says  a  medical 
authority,  'in  just  that  degree  is  the  cure  an  act  of 
faith.' 

Most  of  the  diseases  whose  seat  is  in  the 
mysterious  border-land  between  the  soul  and  the 
body  arise  from  a  paralysis  of  the  will-power,  and 
can  be  cured  by  anything  that  rouses  the  imagina- 
tion, and  coaxes  the  sick  man  to  throw  off  his 
nightmare  and  work  as  if  he  were  quite  well.  All 
the  medicine-man's  ceremonies,  incantations,  and 
mysterious  ongoings  are  fitted  and  intended  to  give 
the  patient  a  deep  impression  of  power,  and  to  rouse 
the  expectation  of  a  cure.  One  meets  white  men  in 
Africa  who  have  been  healed  by  native  doctors  when 


96  STEWART  OF  LOVED  ALE 

all  other  remedies  had  failed,  and  some  white  doctors 
believe  in  the  skill  of  the  natives  in  the  treatment  of 
certain  diseases.  Still  the  fact  remains  that  millions 
have  been  tortured  and  killed  by  native  doctors  or 
witch  doctors,  and  that  millions  have  through  them 
had  their  lives  darkened  by  nameless  terrors.  What 
is  false  in  their  medicine  can  be  driven  out  only  by 
the  true,  and  thus  European  medicine  is  fitted  to 
overthrow  the  whole  system  of  African  superstition. 
The  union  of  medical  and  spiritual  work  seems 
reasonable  to  the  African,  as  his  doctor  is  also  his 
priest. 

All  these  considerations  intensified  Stewart's  desire 
to  bring  the  'double  cure'  within  reach  of  the  be- 
nighted Africans,  and  created  in  him  a  voracious 
appetite  for  medical  knowledge. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  he  preached 
regularly  during  all  the  years  of  his  medical 
studies. 

In  February  1865  he  was  ordained  as  a  missionary 
by  the  Free  Church  Presbytery  of  Glasgow,  but  it 
was  arranged  that  he  should  remain  at  home  till  he 
had  gained  his  medical  degree.  He  was  a  very 
earnest  student  of  medicine.  It  suited  his  indi- 
viduality and  gratified  his  longing  to  do  the  whole 
work  of  Christ.  Its  certainties,  practicalities,  and 
humanities  powerfully  recommended  it  to  him. 

A  few  of  his  fellow-students  are  still  alive.  They 
all  bear  witness  to  his  commanding  personality. 
One  of  them  says  that  he  then  believed  him  to  be 
of  Scandinavian  origin,  and  a  fine  representative  of 
the  old  Vikings.  His  diagnosis  was  correct,  though 
he  knew  nothing  about  his  ancestry. 

'  The  strength  of  the  impression  he  made  on  me,' 
says  another  of  his  fellow-students, '  is  revealed  by 


A  DEVOTED  MEDICAL  STUDENT  97 

the  fact  that  I  have  still  a  very  vivid  image  of  him 
in  my  memory,  while  the  pictures  of  all  the  rest 
have  faded  away.' 

He  had  a  certain  aloofness  which  remained  with 
him  through  life.  It  was  fostered,  if  not  created, 
by  his  complete  devotion  to  his  work,  and  by 
the  fact  that  he  was  older  than  those  around  him. 
They  wished  to  get  his  African  stories,  but  usually 
they  failed.  One  of  the  more  advanced  students 
succeeded  in  'drawing  him,'  by  arranging  an  ex- 
change of  medical  knowledge  for  African  news. 

He  was  'capped'  in  August  1866.  He  then  re- 
ceived the  degrees  of  M.B.  and  CM.,  gaining  special 
distinction  in  the  classes  of  Surgery,  Materia  Medica, 
and  Forensic  Medicine. 

Sir  Hector  Cameron,  a  fellow-student  who  was 
intimate  with  him,  writes: — 'He  was  held  in  great 
esteem  both  by  his  professors  and  also  by  his 
fellow-students,  although  from  disparity  of  years 
and  consequent  difference  of  daily  life  and  habits, 
he  was  in  a  sense  apart  from  them,  and  only  well 
known  by  one  or  two.  He  acted  as  one  of  the 
dressers  in  the  wards  of  Professor  (now  Lord)  Lister, 
in  the  Royal  Infirmary,  at  the  time  when  the  anti- 
septic method  of  wound-treatment,  which  has  so 
marvellously  revolutionised  surgical  practice,  and 
been  so  fruitful  of  benefits  to  suffering  humanity, 
was  just  beginning  to  be  evolved  by  that  great 
surgical  genius.' 

Stewart's  aim  in  studying  medicine  was  to  fit  him- 
self for  promoting  the  Kingdom  of  Christ.  The 
incident  recorded  in  the  following  letter  took  place 
soon  after  he  reached  Lovedale,  and  it  proves  that 
he  had  not  studied  medicine  in  vain. 

'  Having  had  the  privilege,  as  a  child,  of  sitting 


98  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

under  Dr.  Stewart's  ministry,  I  should  like  to  send 
you  the  following  incident  which  occurred  at  our 
house  in  Alice,  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  Love- 
dale.  My  father  was  District  Surgeon  there  for 
some  years. 

'  To  me  then,  although  a  child,  Dr.  Stewart  seemed 
a  second  St.  John  *'  whom  Jesus  loved."  His  love  to 
Christ  seemed  to  permeate  his  being,  and  his  tender 
graciousness  to  all  made  him  my  young  heart's  ideal 
of  a  Christian,  and  I  can  still  remember  a  sermon  he 
preached  on  "  Son,  remember." 

'  One  evening  about  forty  years  ago,  there  was  a 
hurried  knocking  at  our  hall  door,  and  upon  opening 
we   found   a   recent   acquaintance   whose   husband, 

Major  G ,  was  absent  for  a  short  time,  standing 

with  her  little  boy  in  her  arms. 

'"Oh!  "she  cried,  "R has  been  bitten  by  a 

snake."  He  was  a  dear  little  fellow  of  about  four 
years  of  age,  just  promoted  to  knickerbockers,  her 
only  child,  as  she  had  lost  her  baby-boy  not  long 
before. 

'  The  little  fellow  had  been  bitten  in  several  places, 

as  Mrs.  G in  her  fright  had  fallen  with  him,  and 

forehead,  leg,  and  hands  all  bore  marks  of  the  snake's 
malice.  My  father  was  away !  What  was  to  be 
done?  We  sent  for  Dr.  Stewart.  He  came,  and 
remained    all   night.      I    can   see    them   now — Mrs. 

G on  her  knees  by  the  bedside,  the  little  boy 

between  life  and  death,  and  dear  Dr.  Stewart.  He 
sucked  every  one  of  these  wounds.  He  was  medical 
man  only  for  the  Mission  ;  his  valuable  and  busy  life 
could  not  admit  any  risks ;  his  wife  and  little  girl 
surely  claimed  his  caution  personally ;  and  yet  for 
the  passing  stranger  whose  mother-heart  was  crying 
so  sorely,  "  Let  this  cup  pass,"  for  the  wee  unknown 


A  LIVING  MANIFESTATION  OF  CHRIST    99 

laddie,  whose  little  life  compared  to  his  was  as 
nought,  he  took  in  the  poison  and  saved  the  child. 
The  snake  was  a  puff-adder,  and  the  wounds  were 
venomous  enough. 

*  In  the  morning  the  little  one  was  sitting  up  in 
bed  making  shadows  on  the  wall  with  his  little 
fingers. 

'  This  deed  was  just  like  Dr.  Stewart.  It  sank  into 
my  young  heart,  and  the  memory  of  not  only  lovely 
words,  but  lovely  actions — quite  apart  from  his  daily 
mission -work  at  Lovedale — has  been  one  of  the 
deepest  joys  of  my  life,  for  he  was  the  first  true 
living  manifestation  of  Christ  I  ever  knew,  the  first 
whose  whole  life  and  ways  shed  abroad  the  fragrance 
of  Christ,  and  from  whom  the  "  sweet  savour"  went, 
not  only  up,  but  abroad.  In  him  there  was  an 
utterly  selfless  manifestation  of  the  love  of  God.  It 
was  what  he  was  in  Christ  as  well  as  what  he  did, 
that  seemed  to  reveal  so  clearly  the  "heights  and 
depths,  lengths  and  breadths,"  which  he  had  searched 
and  rejoiced  in.  He  was  a  living  witness  of  the 
wonderful  love  of  Christ  who  loved  him  and  died 
for  him,  and  whom  alone  he  desired  to  glorify. 
What  impressed  me  as  a  child  in  his  preaching 
was  the  reality,  not  only  of  his  message,  but  of 
his  knowledge  of  Christ  as  a  living  person.  I 
always  thought  of  him  as  one  who  had  heard  and 
answered  fully  Christ's  words,  "Follow  thou  me." 
My  last  remembrance  of  the  Scotch  Church  at 
Alice  was  hearing  Dr.  Stewart  speaking  there  upon 
Livingstonia,  and  his  purposed  work.  I  remember 
that  he  said  that  this  had  been  upon  his  heart 
for  fifteen  years.  I  certainly  owe  to  Dr.  Stewart 
my  first  clear  sight  of  Christ  in  all  His  beauty,  and 
if  in  any  measure  I  have  been  able  to  tell  of  Him 


loo  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

in  other  lands,  by  pen  or  act,  it  has  been  owing 
greatly  to  this  revelation  of  Christ  to  me  in  my 
early  days. 

'L.  A.  H.  Sarrazin,  nie  Spranger.' 

The  puff-adder  is  one  of  the  most  dangerous  of 
serpents.  Experts  say  that  its  venom  is  com- 
pounded of  a  nerve  poison  and  a  blood  poison, 
which  would  probably  prove  fatal  to  a  doctor  suck- 
ing it,  if  there  were  a  tiny  scratch  on  the  skin  inside 
his  mouth. 

In  his  Pastoral  Theology  Vinet  makes  the  follow- 
ing statement : — '  The  danger  which  may  attend 
frequent  visits  to  sick  persons,  in  cases  of  epidemic 
or  contagion,  is  usually  in  the  inverse  ratio  to  the 
courage  and  devotion  of  the  pastor.  Do  not  flee 
from  danger  and  then  danger  will  flee  from  you.' 

Stewart  makes  the  following  marginal  comment : — 
*  This  page  assumes  the  simple  fact  that  the  minister 
must  risk  his  life  in  this  way.  Well,  it  may  be  right 
— "we  are  immortal  till  our  work  is  done."  There 
are  circumstances,  however,  in  the  determination  of 
this  matter  not  to  be  left  out.'  Yes ;  and  circum- 
stances which  must  often  be  left  out  as  they  lie 
beyond  our  ken.  For  example,  the  boy  whose  life 
Stewart  saved  became  his  son-in-law. 


UK.    JAMES    STEWART 
Ai.H    40 


THE    liEGINXING    OF    LOVEDAI.E 


CHAPTER    XI 

STEWART   OF   LOVEDALE,    1 867- 1 874 

Marriage — At  Lovedale— Origin  of  the  Mission — The  Mother- 
idea — The  New  Lovedale — The  First  Fees — The  First 
Child  of  Lovedale. 

'  Honour  the  beginner,  even  though  the  follower  does  better.' 

'  Height  is  not  reached  in  a  hurry. ' 

—Kafir  Sayings. 

'While  we  are  entirely  Presbyterian,  we  are  also  entirely  and  openly 
undenominational.  We  are  both  colour  blind  and  denominationally 
blind.' — Dr.  Stewart. 

'  Lovedale  Mission  Station,  the  best  of  its  kind  in  South  Africa.' 

— Molyneux' s  '  Campaigning  in  South  Africa.' 

In  November,  1866,  Dr.  Stewart  was  married  to 
Mina  Stephen,  youngest  daughter  of  Alexander 
Stephen,  shipbuilder,  Dundee  and  Glasgow.  Ac- 
companied by  Miss  (now  Dr.)  Jane  Waterston,  as 
Principal  of  the  Girls'  School,  they  arrived  at  Love- 
dale on  January  2,  1867. 

The  Rev.  John  Knox  Bokwe,  then  a  little  Kafir 
lad,  thus  describes  that  arrival : — 

*  As  a  lad  of  eleven  or  twelve  years  old,  the  writer, 

along  with  three  companions  from  the  native  village, 

heard  of  the  arrival  at  Lovedale  of  a  new  missionary 

accompanied  by  two  ladies.     Heavy  rains  had  fallen 

during   the  week,  and    these   little  boys  felt  some 

pleasure  in  puddling  the  muddy  pools  of  the  main 

street  that  passed  the  house  where  the  new  arrivals 

lived.     We  were  anxious  to  get  a  sight  of  them,  and 

101 


I02  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

be  the  first  bearers  of  news  to  our  parents  what  they 
looked  like.  A  thick  pomegranate  fence  partly  hid 
the  front  view  of  the  mission-house,  and  it  was  not 
easy  from  the  street  to  gain  the  object  of  our  visit 
unless  by  entering  a  narrow  gateway  which  led  into 
the  house.  Halting  there,  the  quick  ear  of  one  of 
the  little  fellows  was  arrested  by  sounds  which  he 
thought  never  to  have  heard  before.  He  stood  still 
to  listen,  while  his  mates  continued  their  puddling 
excursions.  At  the  gate,  the  listener  stood  en- 
tranced at  the  music  strains  coming  from  within. 
Peeping  in  to  explore,  he  saw  a  young  lady  seated 
before  a  musical  instrument.^  The  lower  sash 
window  was  open.  The  temptation  to  the  dusky, 
mud-bespattered  lad  to  enter  the  gate,  even  at  the 
risk  of  rudeness,  was  too  strong  for  him.  The  lady 
observed  his  slow,  frightened  approach,  and  quickly 
wiped  off  something  trickling  down  her  flushed 
cheek.  The  music  was  "  Home,  sweet  Home."  No 
wonder  the  tear!  Recovering  herself,  with  a  win- 
some smile  she  encouraged  the  intruder  to  come 
nearer.'  Thus  began  the  friendship  with  the  Kafir 
who,  for  twenty  years,  filled  the  post  of  private 
secretary  to  Dr.  Stewart. 

The  names  of  *  Stewart '  and  '  Lovedale '  have 
been  wedded  for  forty  years,  and  this  is  the  title  by 
which  he  will  be  remembered,  so  long  as  men  can 
appreciate  Christian  heroism. 

It  was  very  like  Stewart  to  explain  that  the  name 
of  Lovedale  was  not  given  from  any  sentimental 
reason,  or  because  the  place  was  some  happy  valley 
where  love  was  more  common  than  elsewhere.  It 
was  named  after  Dr.  Love  of  Glasgow,  one  of  the 
earliest  promoters  of  Foreign  Missions.     After  the 

*  It  was  in  a  thatched  house,  which  had  no  bedstead. 


THE  PLANTING  OF  LOVEDALE  103 

same  fashion  names  were  given  to  many  of  the 
neighbouring  missions — Burnshill,  Pirie,  Blythswood, 
Rainy,  Main,  Somerville,  Macfarlane,  Gordon  Memo- 
rial, etc.,  etc.  This  habit  is  indigenous  to  the 
soil:  witness  Rhodesia,  Pretoria,  Stellenbosch,  Port 
Elizabeth,  Alice,  etc.,  as  also  the  names  of  streets. 

Lovedale  lies  near  the  eastern  boundary  of  Cape 
Colony,  700  miles  N.E.  of  Cape  Town  and  80  miles 
N.  of  East  London.  It  is  on  the  western  edge  of 
what  was  Independent  Kafraria,  the  home  of  the 
Kafir  race  before  they  became  British  subjects.  It 
has  been  often  desolated  during  the  nine  Kafir  wars. 
Thrice  has  the  mission-work  been  interrupted  by 
war,  while  the  class-rooms  were  turned  into  barracks. 
What  is  now  the  mission  land  was  originally  the 
military  station  of  Fort  Hare,  on  the  banks  of  the 
beautiful  river  Tyumie. 

The  site  was  then  a  barren  veldt,  with  bare  hill- 
sides and  a  flat  valley  covered  with  mimosa-trees. 
But  Lovedale  has  completely  verified  Darwin's 
saying,  '  The  presence  of  the  missionary  is  the  wand 
of  the  magician.'  The  traveller  could  scarcely  find 
in  South  Africa  a  more  beautiful  or  better  kept  spot 
than  Lovedale.  It  now  literally  blossoms  like  the 
rose.  A  Scottish  visitor  wrote,  '  The  Lovedale  build- 
ings are  prettily  nestled  among  the  grassy  hills, 
reminding  us  of  Moffat.' 

In  the  early  twenties,  a  mission  was  planted  in 
that  valley  by  representatives  of  the  Glasgow  Mis- 
sionary Society.  The  Church  of  Scotland,  then 
dominated  by  moderatism,  was  not  prepared  to 
espouse  Foreign  Missions.  After  some  twenty  years, 
the  necessity  for  the  training  of  native  agents  had 
become  apparent.  Thus  in  the  year  1841,  the  Love- 
dale Missionary  Institute  was  founded  by  the  Rev. 


I04  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

W.  Govan,  an  admirable  missionary  and  education- 
alist. He  began  with  only  eleven  natives  and  eight 
Europeans,  the  sons  of  missionaries,  magistrates,  and 
traders,  for  whom  there  were  then  no  schools  within 
convenient  reach. 

It  was  a  day  of  very  small  things,  but  despise  it 
not.  Among  these  eleven  natives  was  a  herd-boy, 
the  son  of  a  raw  Kafir,  and  clad  in  sheepskin.  He 
became  a  cultured  Christian  gentleman,  received  a 
complete  university  training  at  Glasgow,  was  the 
first  ordained  preacher  of  the  Kafir  race,  and  the 
first  translator  into  Kafir  of  the  Pilgrim's  Progress. 
A  learned  and  eloquent  preacher,  he  gained  the 
entire  respect,  both  of  the  natives  and  the  Europeans. 
The  opening  day  of  the  tiny  Boarding  School  was 
the  birthday  of  a  new  era  for  the  native  races. 
Then  for  the  first  time  in  South  Africa  the  prin- 
ciple was  adopted  and  avowed  that  blacks  and 
whites  should  meet  in  the  same  classes,  and  dine  in 
the  same  hall,  though  at  different  tables.^  This  was 
the  first  practical  recognition  that  the  Africans  are 
our  fellow-men  ;  that  they  have  the  rights  of  British 
subjects,  and  must  be  treated  according  to  the  laws 
of  the  Empire ;  and  that  earnest  efforts  must  be 
made  for  the  healing  of  racial  prejudices.  This  was 
an  entirely  new  thing  in  South  Africa,  and  there 
was  not  then  such  a  full  recognition  of  the  native 
anywhere  else,  in  Africa  or  America,  in  educational 
circles  or  in  Christian  churches.  Lovedale  and 
Blythswood  have  been  from  their  origin  embodi- 
ments of  the  precept  *  honour  all  men  '  in  its  applica- 
tion to  the  natives.  Mr.  Govan  invented  a  new 
thing  in  philanthropy,  which  Stewart  enlarged  and 

'  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  whites  pay  a  larger  sum  for  board 
than  the  natives  do,  and  receive  more  costly  food. 


THE  MISSIONARY  AS  NAVVY  105 

perfected.  This  new  thing  was  very  old,  for  it  was 
the  application  of  the  principle  of  the  common 
origin  of  the  race. 

In  accepting  Lovedale,  Stewart  had  expressly 
stipulated  that  if  a  mission  were  planted  in  Nyasa- 
land,  he  should  be  at  liberty  to  join  it. 

In  describing  his  first  year  in  Lovedale,  Stewart 
says,  '  I  hardly  think  I  read  a  book  quite  through  in 
1867.  My  student  life  had  to  be  set  aside  for  a 
time,  and  I  had  to  work  within  the  Institution,  and 
outside  like  a  navvy  on  the  roads,  which  were  still 
the  untouched  primeval  soil  of  Africa.'  Through 
life  he  was  a  great  road-maker  :  he  must  find  or  cut 
a  straight  path  to  everything  he  had  to  do  with. 

Mr.  Govan  retired  in  1870,  and  Stewart,  as  Prin- 
cipal, was  then  at  liberty  to  mould  the  Institution. 

There  are  three  stages  in  the  history  of  Lovedale — 
Reconstruction,  Expansion,  and  Consolidation.  The 
period  of  Reconstruction  was  from  1870  to  1874. 

Stewart  began  in  Lovedale  with  one  idea,  but 
it  was  what  the  French  call  'a  mother-idea,'  and 
it  gave  birth  to  a  very  large  family.  This  mother- 
idea  was  his  own  and  original,  and  loyalty  to  it 
through  life  saved  him  from  vacillation  and  mere 
trial- work.  Probably  in  1870  no  other  person 
cherished  the  same  idea  in  the  same  form,  and  was 
prepared  to  realise  it.  His  aim  was  to  uplift  the 
native  by  touching  him  at  every  point,  instructing 
him  in  all  the  arts  of  civilised  life,  and  fitting  him 
for  all  Christian  duties.  As  an  original  Educa- 
tionalist he  is  entitled  to  rank  alongside  of  Dr. 
Alexander  Duff  of  Calcutta.^     In  his  own    sphere 

*  His  letters  to  Dr.  Duff  in  1864  show  that  the  plan  which  he 
adopted  was  matured  at  that  early  date,  and  that  it  was  not  essentially 
modified  by  after-thought. 


io6  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

he  was  at  least  as  great  an  Imperialist  as  Rhodes, 
for  his  ambition  soared  to  an  intertribal,  interstate, 
and  interchurch  university,  where  the  most  gifted 
of  the  natives  of  South  Africa  might  receive  an 
education  that  would  fit  them  for  the  higher  walks 
of  life.  As  a  leal-hearted  son  of  John  Knox,  he 
wished  to  have  church  and  school  side  by  side,  to 
provide  a  sound  elementary  education  for  all  native 
children,  and  to  make  an  open  path  from  the  school 
to  the  college  within  reach  of  every  scholar  'of 
pregnant  parts.'  And  he  had  the  daring  to  plan  all 
this  for  heathen  Africa.  Before  he  died  he  had 
the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  his  idea  had  been 
accepted  by  many  of  the  leading  statesmen  south 
of  the  Zambesi,  while  the  '  Lovedale  method '  had 
been  adopted  in  all  the  large  missionary  institutions 
in  the  land. 

He  saw  clearly  what  the  native  races  needed,  and 
began  to  provide  it  with  remarkable  far-sightedness, 
wisdom,  and  perseverance.  After  a  hard  struggle, 
he  discontinued  the  teaching  of  Latin  and  Greek, 
and  adopted  English  as  the  classic.^  Like  every 
man  who  is  in  advance  of  his  age,  he  had  to  fight 
every  mile  in  his  marches  towards  reconstruction, 
but  he  was  inspired  by  his  vivid  vision  of  the 
things  that  were  coming.  *  Genius  conceives,  talent 
executes,'  Abraham  Lincoln  has  said.     Stewart  had 

^  Captain  Younghusband — now  of  Tibet  fame — when  visiting  Love- 
dale  in  the  nineties,  asked  a  native  if  he  was  satisfied  with  the  educa- 
tion there.  'No,'  he  replied,  'they  are  not  teaching  our  children 
Greek  and  Latin.  Dr.  Stewart  says  that  English  is  to  be  our  Greek 
and  Latin.'  This  was  a  sore  point  with  the  natives  for  some  time. 
They  thought  it  a  hardship  that  they  could  not  get  a  full  European 
education.  They  regarded  Greek  and  Latin  as  among  the  chief 
charms  of  the  white  men  and  the  hall-mark  of  gentlemen,  and  they 
wanted  to  know  why  they  had  been  deprived  of  them. 


GENEROUS  HELPERS  107 

the  genius  to  conceive,  and  the  talent  to  realise  the 
greatest  and  most  beneficent  scheme  that  has  yet 
been  devised  for  the  elevation  of  the  African  races. 
In  this  he  stood  alone  among  the  men  of  his  time. 
At  first,  most  people,  and  among  them  some  of  his 
colleagues,  believed  that  a  mere  mirage  was  alluring 
him  into  the  desert  of  utter  failure.  Opposition  was 
just  what  was  needed  to  make  him  take  off  his  coat. 
His  was  the  trained  self-reliance  of  a  strong  and 
fully  persuaded  man,  and  few  were  ever  more  amply 
dowered  with  tenacity  of  purpose.  With  him  the 
last  moment  of  conviction  was  the  first  moment  of 
action.  He  had  a  wonderful  power  ot  getting  things 
done  even  by  the  natives,  and  a  wonderful  faculty 
for  getting  shrewd  business  men  to  believe  in  him, 
and  entrust  money  to  him.  Among  his  relatives 
and  personal  friends  were  several  who  were  able  and 
very  generous  helpers,  and  he  got  not  a  little  support 
from  men  who  did  not  belong  to  his  own  Church.^ 

The  aim  was  to  give  the  native,  not  a  mere 
storage  of  information,  but  a  practical  training  of 
brain,  eye,  hand,  and  heart. 

Lovedale  soon  became  a  hive  of  many  industries. 

^  In  Dawn  in  the  Dark  Continent,  we  find  the  following  foot- 
note (194) : — 

'  The  Builders  of  Lovedale. — The  names  of  the  chief  benefactors 
are  as  follows : — The  late  Mr.  D.  P.  Wood,  Natal  and  London  ;  the 
late  Mr.  John  J-  Irvine,  a  member  of  the  Legislative  Assembly,  Cape 
Colony;  Sir  William  Dunn,  London  and  Port  Elizabeth,  M.P.  for 
Paisley;  Sir  John  Usher  of  Norton;  John  Stephen,  Esq.,  Glasgow; 
the  late  James  White,  Esq.,  of  Overtoun ;  Lord  Overtoun  ;  John 
S.  Templeton,  Esq.,  Glasgow  ;  James  Templeton,  Esq.,  Glasgow  ; 
Harry  W.  Smith,  Esq.,  W.S.,  Edinburgh;  and  many  other  generous 
donors. 

'The  excellent  Christian  man  whose  name  stands  at  the  head  of  the 
above  list,  Mr.  D.  P.  Wood,  merchant,  of  Nalal  and  London,  sent 
;^5ooo  in  two  donations,  without  one  word  of  solicitation.' 


io8  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

Dr.  Stewart  brought  skilled  artisans  from  Scotland, 
and  new  buildings  arose  around  him.  The  growth 
was  steady  and  even  rapid.  He  then  set  himself 
to  get  fees  from  the  native  boarders,  and  made  a 
great  and  fruitful  discovery.  The  natives  did  not 
see  what  good  '  working  book '  or  '  speaking  from 
a  book ' — their  phrases  for  reading — could  do  to  the 
children.  They  concluded  that  it  must  do  good 
to  the  missionary,  and  that  their  children  should 
be  paid  for  it.  The  school  seemed  to  them  like  a 
prison,  and  they  considered  that  their  children 
should  be  rewarded  for  sitting  all  day  in  a  house 
and  *  making  a  book '  for  the  white  man.  The 
pupils  were  at  first  drawn  to  the  school  by  presents 
of  beads,  buttons,  and  brass  wire — the  currency  of 
the  country  then.^ 

Stewart  had  a  two  days'  palaver  with  the  natives 
about  fees.  At  last  a  man,  Nyoka,  arose  and  said, 
'  I  will  pay  £4  for  my  son.'  In  after-years  Stewart 
often  thought  gratefully  of  that  man  as  the  fair 
beginner  of  a  nobler  time.  He  then  stood  alone 
in  the  persuasion  that  the  natives  would  pay  for 
education.      It   was   a    new   and   daring    idea.      A 

^  The  missionaries  at  Livingstonia  had  a  similar  experience.  After 
they  had  mastered  two  or  three  letters  of  the  alphabet,  the  scholars 
said  that  they  were  tired,  and  they  took  a  rest  for  a  fortnight  or  three 
weeks.  In  some  of  the  schools  the  teachers  kept  a  jar  of  syrup  or 
treacle,  with  a  stick  in  it.  They  gave  every  scholar  a  lick  of  the 
savoury  stick,  and  so  introduced  them  to  the  'sweets  of  literature.' 
A  scholar,  when  catechised,  would  say  that  his  teeth  were  tired,  and  that 
he  could  not  answer  the  missionary  any  more.  The  native  workmen 
were  paid  to  build  a  house.  The  schoolboys  then  came  and  said  that 
they  must  be  paid  to  learn  as  the  others  were  paid  to  build.  The 
teachers  declined,  so  the  boys  struck  and  left  school.  After  a  while 
the  boys  came  back  and  asked  for  pay.  *  No,'  was  the  reply,  '  but  if 
the  better  scholars  teach  the  younger,  we  will  pay  them.'  This  suited 
the  boys,  who  began  as  monitors.  In  this  way  the  monitorial  system 
was  introduced  into  the  Livingstonia  schools, 


EPOCH-MAKING  EVENTS  109 

uniform  fee  was  introduced  for  all  natives  of  what- 
ever Church,  and  all  denominations  were  put  on  the 
same  level,  though  all  the  missionaries  at  Lovedale 
then  belonged  to  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland. 

The  payment  of  fees  was  an  excellent  education 
of  the  natives  in  independence  and  honesty.  Ex- 
perts say  that  the  character  of  the  native  is  injured 
when  he  receives  education  gratis. 

The  aim  was  to  make  the  Christian  religion 
supreme  without  respecting  denominational  differ- 
ences. At  the  same  time  he  did  nothing  to  weaken 
the  denominational  connections  or  preferences. 
He  thus  gained  the  entire  confidence  of  all  the 
Protestant  churches,  and  they  gladly  placed  their 
students  under  his  care.  Stewart  says :  '  All  de- 
nominations and  a  dozen  tribes  have  been  repre- 
sented at  one  time  or  another  within  the  place, 
some  coming  from  even  as  far  as  the  Zambesi, 
.  .  .  But  broad  Christianity  does  not  mean  lax 
Christianity.' 

Another  epoch-making  feature  in  the  new  Love- 
dale  was  the  admission  of  native  girls,  and  their 
training  for  all  domestic  work. 

A  lady  thus  describes  her  visit  to  the  new  Love- 
dale  : — *  A  very  bright,  happy  spirit  pervades  the 
place,  and  the  radiant,  intelligent  faces  of  many  of 
the  natives,  and  their  quiet  self-possession,  were  very 
striking.  It  is  a  hive  of  industry,  and  yet  one 
feels  that  the  spiritual  side  is  never  neglected. 
Dr.  Stewart  is  a  big-hearted  and  most  lovable  man. 
A  most  happy  spirit  pervades  all  the  staff.' 

During  the  four  years  from  1870  to  1874,  the 
numbers  had  steadily  risen  from  92  to  480,  and  the 
fees  from  nothing  to  ;^200,  ^^400,  ;f8oo,  and  ;^i30o. 
The  humble  thatch  church  at  Lovedale,  which  may 


no  STEWART  OF  LOVED  ALE 

have  cost  ;^ioo,  had  now  grown  into  many  large 
buildings. 

Many  other  colleges  have  risen  after  the  model 
of  Lovedale,  but  they  are  all  either  tribal  or  de- 
nominational. Lovedale,  Blythswood,  and  Emgwali 
still  remain  the  only  missionary  institutions  which 
rise  above  all  tribal  and  denominational  barriers, 
and  present  the  note  of  universality. 

In  1870  Stewart's  co-operation  was  secured 
for  the  establishment  of  the  Gordon  Memorial 
Mission  at  Umsinga  in  Natal,  near  the  Tugela, 
about  one  hundred  miles  north  of  Petermaritzburg 
and  thirty-five  from  Dundee.^ 

The  Honourable  James  Gordon,  brother  of  the 
present  Earl  of  Aberdeen,  and  grandson  of  the  great 
chief  who  once  wielded  the  destinies  of  the  British 
Empire,  had  resolved  to  devote  his  life  to  the  work 
of  Christ  among  the  heathen  in  South  Africa.  His 
purpose  was,  however,  frustrated  by  his  early  death 
in  1868.  In  a  letter  to  a  friend  in  the  end  of  1863, 
he  said  :  '  The  old  year  will  soon  be  gone.  Last 
New  Year's  Eve,  I  went  to  bed  with  scarcely  a 
thought  of  my  soul.      But  the  very  next  day,  by 

^  On  this  errand  Stewart  rode  about  one  thousand  miles  in  a  very 
rough  countiy  and  in  districts  little  known,  sleeping  at  any  house,  shop, 
or  hut  he  could  find.  He  spent  one  night  in  an  outside  hide  store, 
and  another  in  a  miserable  house,  where  he  got  for  supper  '  apparently 
salt  beef  or  salt  horse  perhaps  ;  but  at  any  rate  it  was  very  good,  as  I 
was  very  hungry.'  He  asked  to  be  allowed  to  sleep  on  the  clay  floor 
of  the  kitchen  under  the  table,  as  it  was  better  than  the  veldt.  On 
another  iiighl  he  came  to  a  German  mission-house  that  was  shut  up. 
He  managed  to  get  in  somehow.  Seven  or  eight  years  afterwards  a 
German  missionary  on  board  a  steamer  told  Stewart  how,  during  his 
absence,  his  house  had  been  commandeered.  '  Did  the  intruder  be- 
have himself  well  and  pay  for  what  he  took  ? '  Stewart  asked.  '  Oh 
yes,'  replied  the  German,  'he  left  money  on  the  table.'  '  I  was  that 
man,'  Stewart  added. 


BIRTHDAY  OF  A  SOUL  AND  A  MISSION    in 

the  grace  of  God,  I  was  brought  to  know  the  love 
of  Christ  which  passeth  knowledge.  Yes,  New 
Year's  Day,  the  birthday  of  the  year,  is  the  birthday 
of  my  soul.'  It  was  also  the  birthday  of  a  very 
interesting  mission,  and  the  first  child  in  the  Love- 
dale  family  of  missions.  The  Countess  of  Aberdeen 
and  her  family  resolved  to  found  a  mission  among 
the  Zulus,  in  memory  of  the  deceased,  and  they 
entrusted  it  to  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland.^ 

Stewart  had  now  laid  the  foundations  upon  which 
he  was  to  build  during  the  next  thirty  years.  The 
period  of  reconstruction  was  over,  and  the  time  of 
expansion  had  begun.  But  events  of  the  highest 
moment  were  soon  to  withdraw  him  from  Lovedale. 

Before  attempting  to  rehearse  these  exploits,  a 
story  must  be  told  which  claims  a  foremost  place  in 
the  romance  of  liberality  and  Christianity. 

'  See  The  True  Nobility :  Sketches  of  the  Life  and  Character  of 
Lord  Haddo,  and  of  his  Son,  the  Honourable  J.  //^  H.  Gordon,'  by 
Dr.  Alexander  Duff. 


CHAPTER    XIP 

THE   FATHER   OF   BLYTHSWOOD,  1873-18^ 

A  Novel  Appeal— A  New  Mine  of  Liberality — Native  Oratory 
— A  Grand  Function — The  Rev.  R.  W.  Barbour's  Report 
— Blythswood  To-day. 

'  This  work  is  an  answer  to  the  statement  often  made  that  the  natives 
are  unimprovable.  We  who  work  with  you  know  better.  There  is  the 
same  limitless  improvement  possible  to  the  natives  as  to  any  men  of  any 
colour  God  has  made,' — From  Dr.  Stewart's  Speech  at  Blythswood. 

To  the  east  of  Cape  Colony,  and  alongside  of  the 
great  Kei  River,  lies  Fingoland,  the  Transkeian  home 
of  the  Fingoes,  They  are  the  broken  remnants  of 
tribes  scattered  during  the  endless  intertribal  wars. 
Fifty  years  ago  they  were  sunk  in  degradation  and 
slavery.  But  ere  long  a  great  change  vi^as  wrought 
among  them.  They  discovered  the  value  of  educa- 
tion and  turned  wistfully  to  Lovedale  for  a  model, 
and  for  help  to  realise  it.  Pupils  of  Lovedale  were 
living  among  them,  and  they  wished  that  their  own 
sons  and  daughters  might  also  learn  the  arts  of 
civilisation.  The  Fingoes  were  encouraged  and 
guided  in  their  aspirations  by  their  magistrate, 
Captain  Blyth,  and  the  Rev.  Richard  Ross  of  Toleni. 
Early  in    1873  they  appealed  to  Stewart  to  plant 

1  The   following   books  have   been   consulted   for  this  chapter : — 
African   Wastes  Reclaimed,  by  Robert  Young ;   Dawn  in  the  Dark 
Continent,  and  Light  in  Africa,  by  the  Rev,  James  Macdonald  (for 
ten  years  Principal  of  Blythswood). 
112 


A  CHILD  OF  LOVEDALE  113 

among  them  a  second  or  minor  Lovedale.  'A  child 
of  Lovedale,'  as  they  called  it  in  their  poetic  fashion, 
and  a  'shadow  of  rest  for  their  children.' 

Stewart  hesitated.  He  was  then  overburdened 
with  the  growing  work  at  Lovedale,  and  the  road  to 
Fingoland  was  a  three  days'  journey,  very  rough  and 
sometimes  dangerous.  He  was  not  sure  that  the 
hour  had  come  for  such  extension.  However,  here 
were  Ethiopia's  hands  outstretched  to  him,  and  he 
felt  that  his  outstretched  hands  should  meet  theirs. 
With  some  hesitation  he  started  from  Lovedale,  but 
at  King  William's  Town,  a  whole  day's  drive  from 
the  Kei,  he  shut  himself  up  for  a  day  in  his  room, 
and  next  morning  turned  his  horses'  heads  home- 
wards. 

That  resolution  or  want  of  resolution  was  the  real 
foundation  of  Blythswood.  He  decided  to  test  the 
people  and  especially  their  leaders  before  committing 
himself.  He  afterwards  visited  them,  met  with  their 
head-men,  and  promised  that  he  would  help  them  if 
they  raised  ;^iooo  as  a  proof  of  their  sincerity  and 
earnestness.  It  was  an  audacious  proposal.  The 
idea  was  entirely  new  to  the  natives,  many  of  whom 
were  violently  opposed  to  Christianity.  They  had 
never  before  been  asked  to  contribute  to  a  piece  of 
mission-work. 

After  four  or  five  months,  a  telegram  reached 
Stewart:  '  Come  up,  the  money  is  ready.'  At  a  public 
meeting  of  the  whole  Fingo  tribe,  it  had  been  resolved 
that  every  man  liable  to  be  taxed,  should  contribute 
five  shillings  towards  the  proposed  building.  This 
was  the  birth  certificate  of  a  new  era,  and  a  more  im- 
pressive tribute  to  Lovedale  could  not  be  imagined. 

Stewart  then  visited  the  tribe.  The  meeting  was 
held  in  the  veldt,  as  no  building  in  the  district  was 

H 


114  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

large  enough  for  the  great  throng  of  men,  women, 
missionaries,  and  children.  On  a  deal  table  standing 
on  the  grass  lay  a  shining  heap  of  silver,  over  ;^i45o. 
The  substance  of  the  native-speaking  that  day  was 
given  in  a  sentence  by  one  of  their  orators.  Point- 
ing to  the  money,  he  said,  '  There  are  the  stones ; 
now  build.'  This  was  a  very  wonderful  achieve- 
ment among  a  heathen  tribe  in  which  there  was  only 
a  very  small  minority  of  Christians. 

Stewart  drove  off  to  King  William's  Town,  with 
£1450  in  silver  tied  in  a  sack  behind  his  trap. 
'  The  silver  was  heavy,'  he  said,  '  but  my  heart  was 
light.' 

It  will  be  better  both  for  the  reader  and  the  writer 
to  tell  the  whole  story  of  Blythswood  in  this  chapter. 

Stewart  there  'struck  oil,'  and  thrice  it  burst 
up  responsive  to  his  touch.  This  was  the  biggest 
sum  ever  given  by  natives.  He  had  discovered  an 
unsuspected  mine  of  liberality.  It  was  as  definite  a 
discovery  as  that  of  gold  on  the  Rand,  of  diamonds 
at  Kimberley,  or  of  Cullinan  when,  prospecting  for 
coal  on  the  brown  moors  near  Pretoria,  he  located  the 
Premier  Diamond  Mine  and  the  Cullinan  Diamond. 

The  building  was  begun  in  1875.  Stewart  then 
returned  from  Scotland,  bringing  with  him  four 
masons  from  Aberdeen,  and  ;i^i50O  in  fulfilment  of 
his  promise.  In  giving  thanks  for  this  gift  one  of 
the  chiefs  said,  *  We  shall  best  please  our  friends  in 
Scotland  by  doing  our  utmost  to  help  forward  this 
school,  and  by  sending  our  children  there,  and  doing 
all  we  can  to  become  a  God-fearing,  loyal,  and 
civilised  people.' 

As  the  building  grew,  the  people  desired  that  it 
should  be  made  larger.  'Very  well,'  said  Stewart, 
'let    us    have    another    subscription.'     There    was 


/      .\-     /)      I      .1      .V 


SOUTH-EAST    AFRICA 


Hojaar    >--^  Su 


A  GREAT  FUNCTION  AND  FEAST         115 

another  meeting,  speeches,  and  more  thanks,  and 
more  trouble  in  carrying  all  the  silver  (about  ;^I500) 
to  the  nearest  Bank,  which  was  about  one  hundred 
miles  away. 

The  Institution  was  called  Blythswood,  after 
Captain  Blyth,  one  of  the  ablest  of  British  adminis- 
trators and  a  'thorough  Christian  of  the  working 
kind.'  He  gained  the  affections  of  the  people,  and 
when  he  died,  they  spent  ;^S0O  in  completing  the 
unfinished  tower  of  the  building  as  a  memorial  to 
him.  The  Institution,  which  is  about  one  hundred 
and  twenty  miles  east  of  Lovedale,  was  opened  in 
July  1877.  A  national  character  was  given  to  the 
event.  The  natives  have  a  real  genius  for  public 
functions  and  feasts,  but  it  is  not  gratified  now  as  it 
used  to  be  when  their  chiefs  and  counsellors  had 
supreme  power.  The  newspapers  of  the  day  say  that 
about  four  thousand  natives  and  a  large  number  of 
Europeans  and  missionaries  were  present.^  The 
building  was  decked  with  fluttering  flags.  The  pro- 
ceedings were  opened  by  public  worship,  and 
addresses  followed.  Many  of  the  natives  spoke  and 
spoke  well.  '  Even  the  women,'  it  is  said,  '  were 
unable  to  keep  silent,  and  spoke  with  effect.' 

The  Kafir  women  are  better  orators  than  the  men, 
though  almost  every  native  is  a  ready  speaker.  But 
the  women  have  clearer  voices  than  the  men  and 
manage  them  better,  and  their  language  is  usually 
more  beautiful.  When  a  woman  begins  to  speak, 
she  usually  secures  dead  silence  and  great  attention. 
At  such  gatherings  they  use  great  ingenuity  to  get 
a  man  to  speak  who  does  not  intend  to  do  so,  for, 

^  Captain  Blyth  wrote,  expressing  his  regret  that  he  could  not  be 
present.  Nothing,  he  said,  had  ever  given  him  greater  pleasure  than 
his  connection  with  the  Institution. 


ii6  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

according  to  native  etiquette,  a  man  cannot  speak 
without  making  a  contribution,  though  he  may  con- 
tribute without  speaking. 

One  native  orator  after  another  made  loyal 
speeches,  and  finished  by  laying  a  contribution  on 
the  table,  or  by  promising  to  send  a  sheep,  a  goat, 
or  an  ox.  About  ;^300  was  then  contributed  in 
money  or  kind.^  The  natives  expressed  their 
willingness  to  give  another  subscription  to  clear 
off  the  whole  debt.  The  function  was  closed  with 
a  general  and  generous  feast  in  the  right  royal 
Kafir  style.  They  slaughtered  twelve  sheep,  twelve 
goats,  and  over  twenty  oxen,  and  they  had  an 
enormous  supply  of  Indian  corn  (maize),  bread, 
and  coffee. 

The  buildings  cost  over  ;^7000,  and  provided 
accommodation  for  one  hundred  and  twenty  native, 
and  thirty  European  boarders.  The  native  com- 
mittee in  charge  of  it  was  composed  of  four  magis- 
trates and  thirteen  head-men,  who  were  associated 
with  the  European  missionaries. 

Blythswood  was  open  scarcely  a  year  when  the 
fourth  Kafir  war  broke  out.  The  building,  which 
was  of  stone,  and  by  far  the  largest  and  strongest 
in  the  whole  district,  was  converted  into  a  fort,  and 
used  for  some  months  as  a  place  of  refuge  for  about 
one  hundred  and  forty  Europeans,  with  their  families, 
who  then  formed  the  small  white  population  of  the 
Transkei. 

In  1 878  there  was  a  debt  on  Blythswood  of  ;^i6oo. 
When  Sir  Bartle  Frere  mentioned  the  fact  to  one  of 
the    head-men,   he   replied,   'That    thing  about  the 

*  Principal  Lindsay  of  Glasgow  tells  that  on  a  similar  occasion  he 
saw  a  portion  of  the  collection  running  away  with  the  beadle,  who  was 
pulled  round  the  corner  by  ri  lively  sheep  he  was  trying  to  halter. 


CONCERNING  THE  COLLECTION         117 

Seminary  is  already  settled,  we  are  going  to  pay  all 
the  debt  when  it  is  called  for.'  And  they  did.  Dr. 
Stewart  had  another  large  gathering  with  the  natives. 
Captain  Blyth  and  he  gave  £2^  each,  and  the  natives 
gave  the  rest.  Captain  Blyth  described  this  as  '  a 
brilliant  page  in  their  history.' ^ 

The  Rev.  R.  W.  Barbour  of  Bonskeid,  who  spent 
the  first  year  of  his  married  life  in  South  Africa, 
and  assisted  Stewart  at  Lovedale,  published  in  the 
Christian  Week  very  interesting  accounts  of  the  meet- 
ing at  which  the  natives  cleared  off  this  debt  in  1880. 
He  was  greatly  impressed  by  the  immense  crowd 
of  native  horsemen  who  assembled  to  give  Stewart 
such  a  welcome  as  they  used  to  give  only  to  their 
greatest  chiefs.  '  They  rushed  down  the  hill  like  the 
thunder  of  a  torrent  in  spate,  with  dust  and  noise. 
Five  hundred  and  twenty  went  past,  besides  foals  in 
proportion,  who  kept  their  places  in  the  procession 
and  enjoyed  it  vastly. 

'  The  great  hall  was  crammed.  All  were  wearing 
an  aspect  of  vivacity,  earnestness,  and  cheerfulness, 
such  as  seems  never  to  fail  the  African  race.  They 
were  almost  all  head-men.  The  most  beneficent 
forces  that  the  world  has  known  seemed  to  be 
livingly  exhibited  here,  in  contact  with  the  material 
most  in  need  of  them,  most  conscious  of  its  need, 
and  promising  most  from  the  influence  of  them. 

'  While  they  were  being  arranged,  one  after  another 
of  those  in  arrear  would  step  up  with  a  grave  and 
dignified  mien,  and,  slowly  undoing  his  purse  or 
handkerchief,  take  from  it  the  half-crowns  or  gold 

^  The  native  contributions  to  the  buildings  at  Blythswood  amounted 
to  over  £i,SC>Q.  To  the  end  of  his  life,  this  noble  gift  of  the  Fingoes 
lived  in  Stewart's  memory,  and  gave  to  his  words  a  touch  of  intense 
feeling  and  unchanging  admiration. 


Ii8  STEWART  OF  LOVED  ALE 

it  held.  These  were  watched  by  their  fellows  with 
interest  but  no  curiosity  :  they  are  a  singularly  self- 
possessed  people.  After  a  time  silence  was  made 
among  the  audience,  which  was  kept,  with  intervals 
of  applause,  for  nearly  four  hours.  Captain  Blyth 
asked  one  of  the  native  men  to  engage  in  prayer, 
which  was  done  fervently  but  briefly,  and  closed  in 
a  general  loud  "  Amen."  Then  the  speaking  began. 
The  Captain  talked  in  an  easy  but  forcible  way,  roll- 
ing out  his  speech  in  short,  pithy  sentences.  These 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Ross  took  up  and  twined  into  flowing 
Kafir,  seemingly  enlarging  upon  his  original,  unless 
the  language  did  this  of  its  own  genius,  which  re- 
sembles that  of  the  Ancient  Mariner  in  expecting 
you  to  sit  under  it  for  hours.  Then  he  bade  the 
magistrates  read  their  reports.  One  of  them  told 
us  he  had  fourteen  thousand  souls  in  his  district,  that 
they  had  collected  £^^$0,  and  would  make  it  ;^500. 
Every  man  had  given  his  five  shillings.  They  had 
most  of  them  only  the  little  beehive  huts  to  live 
in,  yet  they  made  the  effort,  and  brought  their  last 
contribution  to  this  their  great  house,  which  they 
had  built  for  themselves  and  their  land  and  their 
children,  dedicating  it  to  the  future  welfare  of  the 
native  people  of  the  Transkei. 

'  After  each  magistrate  had  given  in  his  account, 
Dr.  Stewart  rose.  His  rising  was  the  signal  for  re- 
newed and  closer  attention.  With  his  great  stature 
and  broad,  square  shoulders,  he  looked  in  the  people's 
eyes  and  in  ours  a  natural  "  king  of  men  "  every  inch 
of  him.  You  could  see  this,  but  he  did  not  seem  to 
see  it  or  take  any  advantage  of  it,  except  that  of 
the  royalty  in  look  and  influence  which  it  forces  on 
all  who  have  it.  For  as  he  warmed  to  his  work  and 
spoke  out  unmistakably  in  defence  of  mission  and 


AN  INSPIRING  SPEECH  119 

education  labour  among  the  natives,  and  flung  down 
the  gauntlet  to  the  many  here  who  rail  against  any- 
thing done  for  them,  and  stop  it  when  they  can,  one 
felt  that  his  greatness  lay  in  his  being  a  man,  and 
that  this  gave  him  greater  power  over  the  men, 
black  before  him  and  white  beside  him,  than  any 
robes  of  office  or  investiture  of  human  authority. 
But  he  spoke  throughout  as  a  Christian  man,  not 
more  sore  and  smitten  with  the  unrighteousness  of 
Europeans  and  their  contempt  of  Africans  than 
solemnised  by  the  shortness  of  life  as  a  time  for 
doing  good,  and  the  pressing  reality  of  the  need  of 
the  Gospel,  both  for  ruler,  subject,  and  magistrate, 
as  well  as  Fingo.  It  was  grand  to  see  the  Gospel 
in  its  true  place,  towering  over  rulers  and  authorities, 
and  commanding  the  honour  of  all  as  the  Doctor 
spoke.  He  did  not  flatter  the  natives  or  accuse  the 
English ;  he  neither  instigated  the  one  nor  insinu- 
ated against  the  other.  He  dealt  in  even-handed 
justice  to  all.  He  spoke  in  short,  nervous  sentences, 
but  you  could  as  well  gather  his  speech  from  what 
you  will  find  in  the  Mercury,  as  you  could  make 
out  our  Gladstone's  greatest  power  from  his  printed 
words.  In  both  the  supreme  effect  is  produced  by 
the  flexion  of  their  face  when  seized  by  passion  and 
at  burning  heat.  The  exquisite,  almost  dramatic, 
sarcasm  which  gathers  up  the  face  into  a  fasciculus 
of  wrinkles,  is  a  thing  quite  palpable  but  not  describ- 
able.  The  pleasure,  the  confidence  of  these  men 
in  the  Doctor  was  delightful.  It  was  the  shout  of 
a  king  among  them  when  he  closed.  They  then 
answered  for  themselves. 

'With  difficulty  Dr.  Stewart  toiled  out  of  the 
hall,  having  his  huge  bag  in  his  arms  containing 
;^iioo,  mostly  in   silver.      As  we  climbed  the  hill 


I20  STEWART  OF  LOVED  ALE 

with  him  in  his  spider,  we  heard  now  and  then  a 
handful  of  horsemen  thundering  up  behind  us,  riding 
at  breakneck  pace  and  waving  Good-night.  In  a 
second  they  were  a  speck  on  the  ridge  against  the 
night  sky.  In  a  second  more  it  was  silence.  Wc 
rolled  along  over  endlessly  rolling  wolds  like  the 
green  downs  of  South  England,  or  the  moors  at 
Wanlockhead,  where  nothing  broke  the  monotony 
till  it  reached  the  rugged  black  buttresses  to  north 
and  west,  which  form  the  banks  of  the  Kei.' 

In  1890  the  Rev.  James  Macdonald  wrote:  'To- 
day the  Fingoes  of  Transkei  are  half  a  century 
ahead  of  their  countrymen  in  wealth,  intelligence, 
and  material  progress,  agricultural  skill,  sobriety, 
and  civilised  habits  of  life,  both  in  food,  clothing, 
and  dwellings '  {Light  in  Africa,  p.  49).  Blythswood 
was  an  effect  and  a  cause  of  that  happy  revolution. 
The  reason  why  the  Fingoes  have  outdistanced  the 
other  tribes  is  that  as  slaves  they  were  inured  to 
labour,  and  thus  discovered  the  value  of  their  ser- 
vices. When  set  free  they  went  into  European 
employment,  and  imitated  the  European  farmer  in 
their  methods  of  agriculture.  They  were  also  among 
the  first  to  discover  the  advantages  of  education. 

Of  Blythswood,  Stewart  wrote  with  his  extreme 
dislike  of  exaggeration :  '  It  has  been  a  place  of 
intellectual  light  to  many,  and  perhaps  of  spiritual 
light  to  some.'^ 

1  The  Rev.  D.  D.  Stormont,  M.A.,  LL.B.,  L.C.P.,  Lond.,  the 
Principal  of  Blythswood,  has  kindly  furnished  the  following  statement 
regarding  the  present  position  of  the  Institution : — '  The  staff  of 
Blythswood  number  i8  in  all,  of  whom  ii  are  Europeans  and  7  are 
natives.  In  1907  the  pupils  in  the  Training  School  numbered  160. 
These  were  preparing  for  the  examinations  for  teachers.  The  total 
number  in  the  various  schools  was  about  370. 

'  There  are  ten  branches  in  the  Institution.    The  first  is  the  Church. 


A  PROSPEROUS  MISSION  121 

One  of  the  Blythswood  missionaries  reports  that 
twenty  years  ago  the  Fingoes  reah'sed  in  perfection 

More  than  half  of  the  pupils  who  attend  the  Church  are  communi- 
cants. 

'  In  the  Training  School,  four  European  teachers  are  employed  for 
the  ordinary  branches  of  knowledge,  and  two  special  teachers,  one 
for  woodwork,  and  one  for  needlework.  This  department  aims  at 
the  training  of  teachers  according  to  the  three  years'  course  of  the 
Education  Department  of  the  Cape  Colony.  A  pupil-teacher  remains 
three  years  in  the  Training  School  before  he  obtains  the  teacher's 
certificate  of  the  third  class.  When  he  passes  the  final  examination, 
he  readily  gets  an  appointment  at  £/iO  a  year,  and  can  rise  to  ;^ioo 
or  ;^iio  after  several  years'  service. 

'  There  is  also  a  Practising  School,  which  is  conducted  by  native 
teachers  under  European  supervision,  and  in  which  the  pupil-teachers 
receive  their  practical  instruction  in  teaching. 

'  Twenty-eight  native  boys,  from  seventeen  to  twenty-one  years  of 
age,  are  apprenticed  in  the  Boys'  Industrial  Department,  which  is 
devoted  to  the  teaching  of  woodwork,  carpentry,  painting,  and  build- 
ing construction. 

'  In  the  Girls'  Industrial  Department,  the  girls  are  taught  domestic 
work,  including  needlework,  laundry,  housekeeping,  cookery,  and 
domestic  economy.  They  are  under  the  supervision  of  a  certificated 
teacher  and  trained  teacher  of  domestic  economy.  As  servants,  their 
wages  are  three  or  four  times  more  than  are  given  to  servants  of  the 
ordinary  class. 

'In  the  public  examinations  during  the  years  1901-6  the  pupils 
gained  nearly  a  thousand  certificates. 

*  The  Farm  Department  is  supervised  as  extra  work  by  one  of  the 
members  of  the  European  staff.  The  Government  gave  to  the 
Institution  title-deeds  for  a  grant  of  iioo  acres.  The  farm  has  now 
a  flock  of  400  sheep.  It  is  being  extended  with  the  view  of  contribut- 
ing to  the  expenses  of  the  Institution, 

'  The  Blythswood  Book-room  supplies  the  Institution  and  the 
district  with  books  and  stationery. 

'The  Boys'  Boarding  Department  can  accommodate  150  boys. 

'The  Girls'  Boarding  Department  accommodates  100  girls.  The 
majority  of  the  boarders  are  pupil-teachers  in  the  Training  School. 

'The  financial  turn-over  of  all  the  departments  amounts  on  an 
average  to  ;^io,ooo  a  year.  The  work  has  been  conducted  at  a 
minimum  cost,  not  only  to  the  natives,  but  also  to  the  Church. 
According  to  the  recent  returns,  the  value  of  the  mission  property  at 
Blythswood  is  ;i^20,ooo.' 


122  STEWART  OF  LOVED  ALE 

the  old  line,  *  Round  about  the  rugged  rock  the 
ragged  rascal  ran  ' ;  but  now  they  are  decently  clad, 
they  work  diligently,  and  prize  education  highly.  At 
the  last  census  about  one-half  of  the  tribe  returned 
themselves  as  Christians,  and  they  recently  voted 
;^  10,000  for  the  Inter-State  Native  College. 


CHAPTER    XIII 

THE    FOUNDER   OF   LIVINGSTONIA/    1874-1875 

A  First  Love— The  Burial  of  Livingstone— A  New  Word— 
The  First  Mission  Party— The  Murchison  Rapids— The 
Ilala—K  World's  Wonder, 

'  Low  tide  is  not  the  best  lime  to  launch  the  ship.  Some  influences,  as 
little  capable  of  analysis  as  an  instinct,  seemed  to  draw  or  push  me  on.' — 
Dr.  James  Slewart. 

'The  dawn  does  not  come  twice  to  awaken  a  man.' — African  Proverb. 

'  I  can  because  I  ought.' —  Words  carved  by  Casfari  upon  his  desk. 

Stewart's  biography  now  brings  us  to  a  landmark 
in  the  history  at  once  of  missionary  enterprise  and 
of  imperial  expansion.  After  eight  years  of  un- 
broken service,  he  came  home,  not  on  furlough, 
but  in  order  to  raise  ;^io,ooo  for  the  enlargement 
of  the  buildings  at  Lovedale,  and  also  to  secure 
;^i500  for  the  mission  at  Blythswood,  as  he  had 
promised  to  the  Fingoes  to  raise  pound  for  pound 
with  them. 

A  mission  in  Central  Africa  was,  as  he  used  to 
say,  his  'first  love,'  and  during  his  seven  years  in 
Lovedale,  he  had  ardently  cherished  the  hope  of 
planting  it.     But  the  founding  of  Livingstonia  was 

1  The  best  books  to  be  consulted  on  this  subject,  in  addition  to 
those  of  Dr.  Stewart,  are :  Daybreak  in  Livingstonia,  by  the  Rev. 
J.  W.  Jack,  M.A.,  nnd  Nyasa,  a  Journal  of  Adventures,  by  E.  D. 

Young,  R.N. 

1» 


124  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

no  part  of  his  programme  when  he  returned  to 
Scotland.  Two  months  after  his  arrival  he  wrote: 
'  When  I  came  home,  I  had  no  more  intention  of 
proposing  this  scheme  (Livingstonia)  than  of  pro- 
posing a  mission  to  the  North  Pole.  It  seemed, 
however,  to  be  thrust  upon  me,  almost  to  be  waiting 
for  me.  I  feel  in  one  way  more  at  rest  and  more 
quiet  since  I  have  taken  up  this  burden.' 

On  April  1 8,  1874,  he  took  part  in  the  burial 
of  Livingstone's  body  in  Westminster  Abbey.  '  At 
that  funeral,'  he  wrote,  *  four  of  us  met  who,  thirteen 
years  before,  met  similarly  and  followed  Livingstone 
in  sympathetic  and  respectful  silence  to  the  grave 
of  his  wife  under  the  large  baobab  tree  on  the 
Zambesi.  These  four  were  Sir  John  Kirk,  the  Rev. 
Horace  Waller,  Mr.  E.  D.  Young,  and  myself.' 

Few  events  in  the  nineteenth  century  have  so 
deeply  moved  the  heart  of  our  nation  as  the  death 
and  burial  of  Livingstone.  To  him  we  can  apply 
the  historian's  words  about  Caesar  slain  — '  Never 
was  he  more  alive,  more  powerful,'  and  also  the 
words  of  the  poet  concerning  the  hero  of  Chevy 
Chase — *  The  Douglas  dead,  his  name  hath  won 
the  field.'  The  wonderful  interest  created  by  his 
Missionary  Travels  had  died  down  in  the  interval, 
but  it  was  rekindled  by  his  death. 

The  man  and  the  hour  had  come.  Stewart  was  a 
true  Elisha  on  whom  the  inspiring  mantle  of  Elijah 
had  fallen,  and  he  went  straight  from  that  grave  to 
take  up  his  master's  work.  He  caught,  and  re- 
sponded to,  '  the  wink  of  opportunity ' :  the  tide  was 
rising  fast,  and  he  must  at  once  launch  his  long- 
considered  and  well-beloved  scheme. 

Some  were  proposing  to  erect  a  monument  to 
Livingstone  in  Westminster  Abbey,  but  he  felt  that 


THE  NOBLEST  MEMORIAL  125 

the  right  place  for  it  was  Nyasaland.  Why  should 
not  Scotland  at  once  raise  such  a  memorial  to  her 
hero?  We  must  give  his  own  words.  In  Living- 
stonia :  its  Origin  (pp.  45,  46),  he  says  :  '  On  my 
return  to  Scotland  from  that  funeral  I  consulted 
with  some  friends  as  to  whether  the  time  had  not 
now  arrived  to  again  take  up  the  idea  of  the  pro- 
jected mission.  The  subject  was  carefully  considered 
through  an  entire  summer  night,  and  only  when 
daylight  was  beginning  to  appear  was  the  matter 
finally  concluded.  But  the  resolve  was  made  to 
reopen  the  question  of  the  South  African  Mission, 
and  give  it  the  name  of  LIVINGSTONIA.  This  was 
in  Shieldhall,  an  old  country-house  near  Glasgow, 
then  the  residence  of  my  brother-in-law,  Mr.  John 
Stephen.  The  mission  would  thus  be  a  memorial 
of  Livingstone,  and  the  one  of  all  others  which  I 
knew  very  well  he  would  have  himself  preferred.' 

In  the  following  May  Stewart  made  his  proposal 
to  the  General  Assembly  of  his  Church,  It  was 
after  10  P.M.  when  he  began  to  speak,  and  the 
crowd  had  dwindled  down.  But  he  had  among  his 
hearers  some  who  were  able  and  willing  to  help. 
He  threw  aside  his  prepared  speech  and  spoke  with 
great  effect.  He  closed  with  these  memorable 
words :  '  I  would  humbly  suggest,  as  the  truest 
memorial  of  Livingstone,  the  establishment  by  this 
Church,  or  several  Churches  together,  of  an  institu- 
tion at  once  industrial  and  educational,  to  teach  the 
truths  of  the  Gospel  and  the  arts  of  civilised  life 
to  the  natives  of  the  country,  and  which  shall  be 
placed  in  a  carefully  selected  and  commanding  spot 
in  Central  Africa,  where  from  its  position  and 
capabilities  it  might  grow  into  a  town,  and  after- 
wards into  a  city,  and  become  a  great   centre  of 


126  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

commerce,  civilisation,  and  Christianity.  And  this 
I  would  call  Livingstonia!  "^ 

Describing  this  speech  in  a  letter  to  Mrs.  Stewart, 
he  wrote :  '  I  said,  I  am  not  volunteering  for  this 
service.  If  some  of  my  friends  I  now  see  were  to 
hear  me  doing  so,  they  would  pull  my  coat-tails  and 
say :  "  Remember  the  little  woman  at  Lovedale." 
Ah,  I  did  remember  her,  and  the  little  ones  playing 
about  the  door,  or  crawling  over  the  floor.  .  .  . 
Blessed  are  the  bonds  of  flesh  and  blood !  But  I 
would  say  this  for  the  little  woman  or  little  lady  at 
Lovedale,  I  never  yet  found  her  shrink  from  duty. 
...  I  am  not  committed.  But  if  by  a  few  words  I 
can  raise  a  great  result,  I  should  be  a  coward  if  I 
did  not  say  them.  If  it  is  not  God's  time  and  work, 
it  will  perish.  But  if  it  were  to  take  place,  it  would 
lift  Lovedale  up  to  a  position  that  has  never  yet 
been  dreamt  of,  and  would  give  it  a  new  importance 
as  a  base  of  operations.  Lovedale  will  always  be  our 
headquarters  and  our  home.  Nothing  will  be  done 
for  worldly  fame  or  honour  or  name.  Ambition  of 
that  sort  in  me  is  nearly  dead.  For  the  sake  of 
Him  who  loved  us  and  died  for  us,  for  His  sake 
only  and  for  the  furtherance  of  His  kingdom,  would 
I  say  a  word  on  this  subject.' 

The  name  *  Livingston ia'  was  then  used  for  the 
first  time  in  public.  He  pled  that  a  combined 
mission  should  be  begun  at  once  on  the  same  lines 
as  Lovedale.  The  next  day  Mr.  James  Stevenson 
of  Glasgow  promised  ;!^iooo  for  the  new  mission, 
and  in  a  day  or  two  he  secured  another  ;^iooo  from 

'  This  speech  secured  the  valuable  services  of  Dr.  Laws.  When  he 
read  the  report  of  it  in  the  newspapers,  he  said  :  '  There  is  the  very 
thing  I  have  been  preparing  for  all  my  life.'  When  Stewart  first  met 
him,  he  said  to  himself,  'There  is  the  man  for  us.' 


LAUNCHING  THE  SHIP  127 

Dr.  Young,  the  lifelong  friend  of  Livingstone,  who 
used  to  call  him  'Sir  Paraffin  Young.'  The  desired 
sum  of  ;^  1 0,000  was  soon  secured,  and  ere  long  it 
grew  into  ;^20,ooo.  The  first  promoters  of  the 
mission  were  Mr.  James  Stevenson,  Mr.  J.  Campbell 
White  (afterwards  Lord  Overtoun),  Mr.  John  Stephen, 
and  the  Rev.  (now  Dr.)  Robert  Howie,  whose  aid  in 
collecting  the  money  Stewart  acknowledged  in  the 
warmest  terms,  describing  him  as  '  probably  the 
greatest  and  most  successful  raiser  of  money  in 
Glasgow,  if  not  in  Scotland.' 

The  Church  had  never  had  a  mission  like  this 
before,  and  Stewart  had  to  do  nearly  all  the  pre- 
liminary work  single-handed. 

Faraday  loved  to  show  that  water  in  crystallising 
excludes  all  foreign  ingredients,  however  intimately 
they  might  be  mixed  with  it.  Out  of  acids,  alkalis, 
or  saline  solutions,  the  crystal  comes  sweet  and  pure. 
The  founder  of  Livingstonia  had  many  trying  ex- 
periences. But  it  is  fitting  that,  in  harmony  with 
the  gentle  processes  of  nature,  they  should  be  ex- 
cluded from  his  biography,  so  that  the  purified 
product  alone  may  remain  to  refresh  and  inspire. 

When  I  was  with  Stewart  at  Lovedale,  shortly 
before  his  death,  he  vividly  recalled  an  incident  of 
these  days  which  had  given  him  much  pleasure. 
One  day  he  had  met  me  in  the  street.  'Oh,'  he 
said, '  I  was  coming  to  see  you.  We'll  soon  get  the 
money  for  Livingstonia,  if  we  could  tell  our  friends 
that  we  had  got  the  right  man.'  '  If  you  will  come 
and  conduct  a  service  for  me,'  I  said,  'you'll  get  the 
right  man  at  the  close.'  He  came,  and  was  intro- 
duced to  Dr.  William  Black.  '  I  remember  it  all,' 
he  said,  '  as  if  it  had  been  yesterday.  I  asked  him 
if  he  were  willing  to  go  to  Livingstonia.     He  walked 


128  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

up  and  down  the  vestry  with  his  eyes  fixed  on  the 
carpet.  Then  he  came  in  front  of  me,  drew  himself 
up  and  said,  "  Yes,  with  the  help  of  God,  I  will." ' 

Dr.  Black  was  one  of  those  who  were  '  baptized 
for  the  dead.'  In  the  early  Church  the  phrase  was 
understood  to  mean  one  who  by  baptism  or  a 
solemn  dedication  took  the  place  of  another  who 
had  died.  The  death  of  Dr.  Livingstone  created  in 
Dr.  Black  a  desire  to  serve  Christ  in  Central  Africa. 
He  was  chosen  as  the  first  medical  missionary  for 
Livingstonia,  though  Dr.  Laws  was  the  first  to  reach 
the  field.  He  was  a  man  of  great  promise,  but  he 
died  seven  months  after  his  arrival.  His  is  the  first 
European  grave  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Nyasa.  It 
may  remind  us  of  the  bones  of  Joseph  which  were 
carried  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt  and  buried  at 
Sychar,  as  a  token  of  his  faith  that  the  land  would 
be  given  to  his  seed.  The  tombs  of  missionaries 
are  the  stepping-stones  over  which  the  Gospel  has 
made  progress  in  Africa,  and  also  the  title-deeds  of 
the  Church.  Of  Dr.  Black,  Stewart  said  :  '  He  was 
a  man  in  every  way  admirably  qualified,  by  his 
varied  previous  training,  habits,  and  inclinations,  for 
any  mission  field.' 

In  May  1875,  exactly  a  year  after  the  inception 
of  Livingstonia,  the  first  party  started  for  Nyasa- 
land.  That  year  had  been  one  of  the  busiest  of 
Stewart's  life.  In  a  letter  to  Mrs.  Stewart,  he  says  : 
'  Livingstonia  is  the  heaviest  piece  of  business  I  have 
undertaken  in  my  life.  The  responsibility  is  very 
great  from  the  amount  of  money,  life,  and  credit  that 
is  at  stake.  When  we  look  back  at  this,  we  can 
only  say,  "  What  hath  God  wrought."  Of  course  it 
has  taken  an  immense  amount  of  toil  and  anxiety, 
and   I   think  I  can  truly  say  it  is  two  years'  work 


AFRICA  SHALL  LIVE  129 

condensed  into  one.  .  .  .  Again  and  again  the  long- 
ing comes  over  me  to  get  back  to  Africa.  We  at 
least  have  nothing  to  say  against  Africa ;  it  has  not 
treated  us  badly.  Africa  and  its  children  are  now 
our  life-work.  And  I  am  not  sorry  that  God's 
Providence  has  led  us  there.  Nor,  I  am  sure,  are 
you.  We  have  nailed  the  flag  of  Africa  to  our 
mast,  and  there  it  must  remain  till  God  Himself 
take  it  down.' 

Urgent  affairs  in  Lovedale  and  the  building  of 
Blythswood  hindered  Stewart  from  conducting  the 
party.  But  he  selected  all  the  men,  made  all  the 
arrangements  for  their  journey,  drew  up  the  regula- 
tions for  their  guidance,  and  held  himself  financially 
responsible  for  the  venture.  Ere  long  he  joined 
them  with  a  large  staff  of  helpers.  The  Admiralty 
lent  the  services  of  Mr.  E.  D.  Young,  R.N.,  for  two 
years,  to  lead  the  expedition.  With  Mr.  Young  were 
Dr.  Laws,  four  artisan  missionaries,  and  Mr.  Henry 
Henderson,  a  representative  of  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land. They  took  with  them  the  Ilala  (in  sections), 
a  small  steamer  which  got  its  name  from  the  place 
where  Livingstone  died.  Nomen,  Omen.  That 
name  was  a  happy  reminder  that  the  great  friend 
of  Africa  still  lived  in  the  hearts  of  many  whose 
resolve  was,  '  Livingstone  shall  not  die :  Africa  shall 
live! 

Under  Mr.  Young's  skilful  leadership,  the  party 
reached  the  lower  end  of  the  Murchison  Rapids. 
Many  delightful  surprises  awaited  them.  The  natives 
treated  each  man  as  if  he  were  another  Livingstone. 
Their  name  for  the  British  was,  'that  tribe  that 
loves  the  black  man.'  Their  joy  was  so  great  that 
they  could  hardly  contain  themselves.  These  Mako- 
lolo  had  been  Livingstone's  men,  and  the  reappear- 

I 


I30  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

ance  of  the  British  flag  drew  forth  an  enthusiasm 
beyond  description.  When  the  steamer  was  fairly 
into  their  territory,  they  crowded  to  the  river-bank 
in  thousands,  clapping  their  hands  and  shouting  at 
the  return  of  their  '  fathers,  the  English.'  When 
Mr.  Young  told  them  the  purpose  of  their  mission, 
they  were  delighted,  and  promised  their  help  to  the 
utmost.  They  were  filled  with  sorrow  when  they 
learnt  that  Livingstone  was  dead.  Had  all  our 
fellow-countrymen  in  Africa  been  of  the  same 
spiritual  kith  and  kin  as  David  Livingstone,  what 
might  Africa  have  been  to-day  ! 

The  Ilala  was  taken  to  pieces,  and  about  a  thou- 
sand natives  carried  it  in  five  days  some  sixty  miles 
over  a  serpentine,  roadless  mountain  track,  through 
long  grass  and  thorny  thickets,  under  a  blazing 
tropical  sun.  This  marvellous  feat  was  achieved 
without  a  desertion  or  a  dispute,  or  the  loss  of  a 
single  bolt  or  screw.  The  loads  weighed  about  fifty 
pounds  each,  and  contained  seven  hundred  pieces  of 
the  Ilala.  Among  blacks  as  among  whites,  satisfying 
service  is  secured  only  by  hearty  goodwill  between 
employers  and  employed.  '  We  had  everything 
delivered  up  to  us,'  Mr.  Young  says,  *  unmolested, 
untampered  with,  and  unhurt,  and  every  man  merry 
and  contented  with  his  well-earned  wages  of  six 
yards  of  calico.* 

The  Ilala  was  bolted  together  on  the  river-bank, 
and,  after  steaming  a  hundred  miles  up  the  Shir^, 
on  October  12,  1875,  it  safely  entered  Lake  Nyasa, 
four  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  the  sea. 

It  was  the  first  steamer  ever  launched  on  an 
African  lake.  Its  passengers  had  entered  No-Man's- 
Land,  taking  their  lives  in  their  hands.  An  un- 
broken   stretch    of  heathenism,   about  the    size   of 


THE  BIRTH-HOUR  OF  A  NEW  ERA       131 

Europe,  then  lay  between  them  and  the  nearest 
mission. 

The  natives  were  paralysed  with  wonder  as  the 
'big  iron  canoe,'  'the  fireship'  without  oars  or  sails,  a 
living,  palpitating  monster,  snorted  past  their  villages, 
guided  by  mysterious  men  from  beyond  the  seas, 
with  white  skins  and  straight  hair. 

Many  on  board  had  prophesied  that  Mr.  Young 
was  taking  out  a  number  of  young  fellows  to  leave 
their  bones  on  the  Zambesi,  and  that  the  Ilala  would 
never  reach  Nyasa.  But  the  greatly  daring  deed 
had  been  done  without  a  single  mishap.  The  world 
owes  much  to  its  daring  men  who  know  how  to  dare 
wisely. 

The  entrance  of  this  little  steamer  into  the  sea- 
like lake  was  the  birth-hour  of  the  greatest  era  in 
the  history  of  Central  Africa.  Five  slave  dhows 
were  then  on  the  lake,  and  one  of  them  lowered 
its  flag  to  the  British  flag  flying  at  the  masthead  of 
the  mission  steamer.  The  bell  of  the  Ilala  rang  out 
the  death-knell  of  African  slavery.  The  sight  and  the 
sound  filled  the  Arab  slavers  with  consternation,  for 
they  knew  that  their  slaving  days  would  soon  be 
ended. 

'  God  speed  you,'  Mr.  Young  said  reverently  as 
they  entered  the  lake.  'Amen,'  his  mates  re- 
sponded. The  steam  was  shut  off,  the  engines 
ceased  to  throb,  and  a  hushed  silence  fell  upon  the 
little  party.  They  assembled  on  deck  and  engaged 
in  divine  worship.  With  awed  and  rejoicing  hearts 
they  sang : 

'All  people  that  on  earth  do  dwell, 
Sing  to  the  Lord  with  cheerful  voice. 
Him  serve  with  mirth,  his  praise  forth  tell, 
Come  ye  before  him  and  rejoice,' 


N 


132  STEWART  OF  LOVED  ALE 

Dr.  Laws  thus  describes  the  feelings  of  his  company : 
*  Looking  to  the  future  with  its  vast  possibih'ties, 
they  were  filled  with  a  sense  of  awe,  for  the  Nyasa 
horizon  towards  its  unknown  north  end  was  but  a 
symbol  of  the  work  before  them.'  The  rising  sun 
was  then  gilding  with  his  radiance  the  western 
mountains,  and  they  hailed  this  as  an  emblem  of 
the  speedy  rising  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  upon 
that  long-benighted  region,  with  healing  in  his 
wings. 


CHAPTER    XIV 

AT   LIVINGSTONIA,  1 876- 1 877 

Two  Native  Missionaries — At  Quilimane — On  the  Shire — On 
Lake  Nyasa — A  Fhtting — At  Blantyre — The  First  Lord's 
Supper  in  Nyasaland. 

'If  we  contend,  let  us  contend  like  the  olive  and  the  vine,  which  shall 
produce  most  fruit. ' — A  Saying  of  the  Rabbis. 

'  Every  great  work  must  be  born  of  enthusiasm  and  carried  out  with 
common-sense  and  perseverance.' 

'  Use  temporary  failure  as  a  stepping-stone  to  success.' — Dr.  Stewart's 
Journal. 

In  the  summer  of  1876,  Stewart  started  for  Living- 
stonia  with  a  party  of  seventeen  Europeans  and  four 
natives.  Major  Malan,  Stewart's  devoted  friend  and 
helper,  had  written  to  him,  '  Think  much  over  native 
agency  at  Nyasa.  I  hope  you  will  take  some 
labourers  there — to  remain.  Black  men  will  listen  to 
black  men  who  come  with  white  men,  and  to  white 
men  who  come  with  black.' 

As  many  of  the  pupils  at  Lovedale  speak  the  same 
language  as  the  Ngoni  on  Lake  Nyasa,  Stewart  had 
appealed  to  the  senior  students  for  volunteers.  Of 
the  fourteen  who  responded,  four  were  accepted 
One  of  them  was  William  Koyi,  an  ex-bullock 
driver,  who  made  a  wonderful  impression  upon  both 
blacks  and  whites.  He  said  that  he  could  go  only 
as  a  hewer  of  wood  and  drawer  of  water,  that  he  had 
only  half  a  talent  which  he  wished  to  use  for  Christ. 

133 


134  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

'  He  was  the  human  agent  largely  used  by  God,' 
Stewart  said,  *in  opening  the  way  for  the  Gospel 
among  the  Ngoni — a  tribe  as  cruel,  as  fond  of  blood- 
shed and  raiding  as  any  in  Africa.'  Near  the  end  of 
his  life,  Stewart  declared  with  deep  feeling  that 
William  Koyi  was  one  of  the  best  men  he  had  ever 
known. 

Large  and  enthusiastic  meetings  were  held  in 
honour  of  the  missionaries  at  Cape  Town  and  Port 
Elizabeth.  Stewart  records  that  one  of  the  speakers 
struck  the  right  key-note  by  saying  that '  civilisation 
without  Christianity  was  a  dry  stick  to  plant  in 
Africa  or  elsewhere.'  A  friend  then  gave  him  a 
donation  of ;;^ 2000  for  the  mission.  Stewart  writes: 
'  We  were  going  as  civilisers  as  well  as  preachers, 
and  we  took  Scotch  cart-wheels  and  axles,  American 
trucks,  wheel-barrows,  window-frames,  and  many 
other  additional  tools  and  implements  which  a  sailor 
would  describe  under  the  one  word  gear.  ...  A 
year  later.  Captain  Elton,  H.M.'s  Consul  at  Mozam- 
bique, visited  Livingstonia.  As  we  walked  up  from 
the  beach  together,  I  saw  him  looking  steadily 
down  at  some  mark  on  the  road  which  led  from  the 
beach  to  the  station.  I  asked  him  what  he  was 
looking  at.  He  said,  "  Are  these  wheel-marks?  If 
they  are,  it  is  more  than  we  have  at  Mozambique 
even  after  two  centuries."  This  was  true,  for  no 
wheeled  vehicle  of  any  kind  was  to  be  found  there 
then.' 

One  of  Stewart's  children  was  born  shortly  before  he 
started.  He  inserted  '  Nyasa '  in  her  name, '  because,' 
he  said, '  I  was  not  sure  that  I  would  see  her  again.' 

The  party  safely  reached  Quilimane  on  August 
8,  1876.  Stewart,  with  deep  emotion  and  fervent 
gratitude  to  God,  visited  the  room  in  which  he  had 


AGAIN  ON  THE  ZAMBESI  135 

spent  six  weeks  thirteen  years  before,  as  a  fever- 
stricken  stranger.  '  Then,'  he  wrote,'  I  had  come  down 
all  alone  in  a  canoe  after  a  journey  of  four  hundred 
miles  on  the  Zambesi.  I  was  very  sick,  very  poor, 
very  depressed.  Things  looked  very  black  that 
night.  To-day  we  have  a  strong  party  with  a  good 
steamer,  and  a  force  of  twenty-three  men.  We  have 
made  a  good  start,  and  soon  will  come  the  struggle 
for  the  life  of  the  enterprise.  So  strange  is  the 
contrast  between  the  present  and  the  past,  that  I  can 
hardly  think  that  I  am  the  same  man  who  was  here 
in  1863.  Patient  waiters  are  sometimes  rewarded, 
you  see.  .  .  .  Does  John  remember  when  the  word 
Livingstonia  was  first  uttered?  He  was  sitting  on 
one  side  of  the  fire  and  I  on  the  other.' 

They  had  a  fleet  of  seventy  canoes,  and  *  the  num- 
ber of  natives  employed  altogether  was  nearly  one 
thousand  men,  six  hundred  of  these  being  required 
at  the  Murchison  Cataracts.'  The  efforts  of  the 
rowers  drew  forth  his  hearty  admiration.  He  writes  : 
'  It  was  a  pleasant  sight  to  see  all  these  boats  flying 
along  under  a  steady  breeze  on  the  broad  African 
river.  This  also  relieved  the  wearied  rowers.  Those 
in  canoes  had  still  the  same  daily  hard  toil  of  punt- 
ing and  paddling  against  a  swift  current  from  dawn 
till  dusk.  .  .  .  We  speak  of  their  indolence  and 
laziness,  but  it  would  be  more  sensible  to  speak  of 
their  endurance,  their  willing  loyalty  to  the  white 
man,  and  their  contentment  with  but  the  smallest 
share  of  this  world's  good  things,  either  to  eat  or  to 
drink  or  to  wear.  All  three  for  him  are  of  the 
roughest  and  poorest,  the  scantiest  and  most  pre- 
carious, and  yet  there  is  a  perfectly  wonderful,  light- 
hearted  cheerfulness  when  the  day  is  done.' 

He  wakes  in  the  night,  and  hears  one  of  his  Love- 


136  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

dale  boys  on  watch,  '  pacing  his  round  with  his  rifle 
on  his  shoulder,  singing  low  and  sweetly,  and 
apparently  much  to  his  heart's  content,  one  of 
Sankey's  hymns,  "Jesus  loves  me,  even  me."  He 
did  not  know  that  I  was  stirring.'  This  singing 
watchman  was  Shadrack  Ngunane,  one  of  the  Love- 
dale  volunteers,  whom  Stewart,  by  an  act  of  grace, 
had  allowed  to  remain  in  Lovedale  after  a  grave 
offence.  '  He  has  been  as  busy  and  useful,'  Stewart 
adds,  '  as  a  white  man  could  have  been,  always  well, 
always  cheerful,  always  ready  for  everything.  The 
picture  of  this  once  wild  Kafir,  formerly  rather 
troublesome,  now  cheerfully  keeping  his  midnight 
watch  in  this  fashion  and  on  such  a  venturesome 
journey,  is  one  I  shall  not  forget.  It  made  me  hope 
for  the  day  when  out  of  the  regions  we  are  now  in 
there  will  be  many  who  will  prove  themselves  as 
worthy  of  the  labour  bestowed  on  them  as  this  lad 
has  done,  and  help  to  convey  the  Gospel  still  farther 
on.  .  .  .  Day  or  night  I  never  found  my  Kafir 
friend  sleeping  when  he  ought  to  be  waking,  or  else- 
where than  at  the  post  of  duty.  There  are  many 
such  Kafirs,  if  all  are  not.  There  are  also  such 
men  to  be  found  in  other  African  tribes  as  well — 
men  you  can  trust — if  there  are  also  among  them,  as 
amongst  all  other  sorts  and  conditions  of  men,  those 
whom  you  cannot  trust.  Such  at  least  has  been  my 
experience  of  thirty  years  amongst  Africans.  Let 
us  not  grudge  to  state  what  is  true  about  a  race 
whose  capacity  and  trustworthiness  so  many  doubt, 
and  often  speak  of  with  needless  contempt.' 

Many  were  the  anxieties  of  the  leader.  It  seemed 
to  a  native  much  easier  to  run  off  into  the  forest 
with  a  bale  of  cotton,  than  to  work  a  whole  month 
for  it  under  the  broiling  sun.     One  evening  seventy 


EXPLORING  LAKE  NYASA  137 

men  deserted  in  the  darkness,  taking  with  them  a 
large  quantity  of  calico.  They  were  brought  back 
with  difficulty.  '  We  have  come  successfully  through 
it  all,'  Stewart  wrote,  '  by  God's  care  and  help.' 

Mr.  Young  met  the  party  at  the  Murchison  Catar- 
acts, and  on  October  21st  the  Ilala  sailed  into  the  bay. 
'  She  entered  the  lake  at  six  in  the  morning,'  Stewart 
wrote, '  and  according  to  our  custom  we  had  worship, 
the  engines  having  stopped  for  a  few  minutes.  At 
Mr.  Young's  request,  we  sang  "  From  Greenland's 
icy  mountains,"  all  joining  in  with  a  fervour  which 
was  no  doubt  helped  by  the  peculiar  associations  of 
the  place  and  hour.' 

Stewart  took  charge  at  Livingstonia  for  fifteen 
months.  He  and  Dr.  Laws  made  the  second  circum- 
navigation, but  the  first  exploration,  of  the  stormy 
lake,  and  were  the  first  white  men  to  set  foot 
on  its  northern  shores.  They  ran  the  Ilala,  each 
three  months  at  a  time,  'steering,  stoking,  and 
repairing  the  steamer  themselves.'  Their  chief 
difficulty  was  to  secure  enough  of  firewood.  This 
work  on  the  steamer  caused  not  a  little  anxiety  to 
the  two  landsmen,  but  it  had  to  be  done.^  They 
found  that  the  lake  is  three  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
long,  and  that  its  breadth  varies  from  sixteen  to 
fifty  miles.  The  men  were  the  most  uncivilised 
they  had  seen  anywhere  in   Africa.     The  most  of 

^  Consul  Elton  spent  some  time  with  the  Livingstonia  missionaries, 
and  he  and  his  party  were  conveyed  in  the  Ilala  to  the  north  end  of 
the  Lake  Nyasa.  In  his  In  Eastern  and  Central  Africa  he  warmly 
praises  the  work  of  the  mission,  and  he  adds  (page  307):  'Dr.  Stewart 
looks  worn  and  anxious.  He  has  a  great  deal  of  responsibility  about 
the  steamer,  of  which  he — as  well  as  Dr.  Laws — should  be  relieved. 
It  is  not  legitimate  work,  and  it  prevents  him  from  concentrating  his 
attention  and  care  upon  subjects  of  higher  importance.'  Again  he 
says,  '  Dr.  Stewart  is  really  ill.' 


138  STEWART  OF  LOVED  ALE 

them  were  entirely  nude,  or  *  go-nakeds,' to  borrow 
the  African  phrase.  Their  only  covering  was  a  coat 
of  red  ochre  and  paint,  which,  as  in  our  houses, 
served  as  a  protection  against  the  sun  and  the  rain. 

His  Journal  records  careful  observations  about  all 
the  objects  he  saw.  But  there  are  many  blank 
leaves  with  only  the  date.  Each  of  these  repre- 
sented a  fever-day. 

The  mission  station  was  then  at  Cape  Maclear,  at 
the  southern  end  of  the  lake,  a  very  beautiful  spot, 
but  unhealthy,  and  not  well  watered.  After  pro- 
longed and  very  anxious  examination  of  many  sites, 
Stewart  recommended  that  the  mission  should  be 
removed  to  Bandawe,  half-way  up  the  western  side 
of  the  lake.  The  bay  near  Livingstonia  he  called 
Florence  Bay,  after  one  of  his  daughters.  It  is  so 
named  on  the  maps :  it  was  the  only  place  in  Africa 
to  which  he  gave  a  name.  At  Florence  Bay  he  had 
so  severe  an  attack  of  fever  that  he  quietly  gave 
instructions  about  his  papers.  In  one  of  his  letters 
he  placed  several  mosquitoes,  and  wrote  underneath: 
'  Our  worst  tormentors.  We  are  more  afraid  of  them 
than  of  elephants.' 

'When  I  walked  down  the  west  side  of  Lake 
Nyasa  in  quest  of  a  site  for  the  mission,'  he  wrote, 
'  I  saw  nothing  in  the  quiet  lagoons  and  shores  of 
that  great  inland  sea  but  elephants  in  abundance, 
and  buffaloes,  one  startled  lioness,  and  hippopotami 
without  number.  There  were  the  native  people  of 
course.  The  most  of  them  were  living  in  triple 
stockaded  villages  for  fear  of  the  dreaded  Ngoni. 
There  was  not  a  single  native  Christian,  nor  a  church 
or  school-book  or  Bible,  or  printed  page,  nor  a  single 
native  who  could  tell  the  first  letter  of  the  alphabet' 

One  day,  while  waiting  by  the  shore  till  a  younger 


THE  AFRICAN  LAKES  CORPORATION     139 

missionary  secured  a  dinner  for  them  both,  the  idea 
flashed  into  his  mind  :  '  How  much  easier  it  would 
be  for  all  African  workers,  if  stores  were  opened 
near  to  or  at  their  principal  mission  stations.'  This 
was  the  real  origin  of  the  '  African  Lakes  Corpora- 
tion, Ltd.'  A  letter  was  forthwith  drafted,  indicating 
the  advantages  to  be  gained  by  opening  up  the 
country  to  wholesome  trade  and  commerce.  This 
letter  was  sent  to  the  convener  of  the  Livingstonia 
Mission  Committee,  and  the  result  was  the  formation 
of  the  Company,  All  the  original  shareholders 
were  members  of  the  Livingstonia  Committee,  but 
they  formed  an  independent  Mercantile  Company, 
which  has  had  great  success,  and  has  rendered 
immense  services  to  missions  and  the  country.  It 
has  also  had  an  influential  share  in  the  abolition  of 
the  slave-trade.  The  shareholders  were  content  '  to 
take  their  dividends  out  in  philanthropy,'  but  they 
now  earn  a  dividend  of  ten  per  cent.^ 

*  Mr.  Fred.  L.  M.  Moir,  the  Secretary  of  the  Company,  writes : 
'  At  a  very  early  stage  it  was  found  that,  unless  the  time  of  the 
missionaries  was  to  be  unduly  taken  up  in  attending  to  absolutely 
necessary  commercial  affairs,  a  separate  organisation  was  not  only 
desirable  but  essential.  In  the  interests  of  the  natives  themselves,  and 
as  discouraging  the  slave-trade,  it  was  also  obviously  expedient  to 
foster  legitimate  commerce  and  to  establish  steam  communication 
with  the  coast.  In  the  summer  of  1S78,  as  a  result  of  representations 
made  by  Dr.  James  Stewart  and  others,  a  Company — the  Livingstonia 
Central  Africa  Company,  Limited  (now  known  as  the  African  Lakes 
Corporation,  Limited) — was  formed  by  gentlemen  in  Glasgow  and 
Edinburgh.  A  steamer  to  ply  on  the  Zambesi  and  Shire  rivers  was 
despatched  along  with  consignments  of  barter  goods  and,  later  on,  the 
s.s.  Ilala,  brought  out  to  Lake  Nyasa  by  the  first  Livingstonia  party, 
was  taken  over  by  the  Company.  Trading  and  transport  stations  were 
opened  at  Quilimane  on  the  coast,  on  the  Zambesi  and  Shire  rivers, 
at  Blantyre,  and  on  Lake  Nyasa,  the  Company  gradually  enlarging 
the  scope  of  their  operations  as  opportunities  presented  themselves. 
Fiom   small    beginnings  the   Company   giev^   until  now   they  have 


I40  STEWART  OF  LOVED  ALE 

Stewart  spent  three  months  at  Blantyre  ^  Mission, 
whose  existence  was  then  imperilled.  He  was 
accompanied  by  his  cousin,  James  Stewart,  C.E., 
F.R.G.S.,  who  directed  the  reconstruction  of  the 
mission  and  the  making  of  the  roads.  These 
services  were  warmly  acknowledged  by  the  Estab- 
lished Church.  '  In  1877  Dr.  Laws  of  the  Living- 
stonia  Mission  and  myself,'  he  wrote,  'went  to  assist 
the  Blantyre  men  to  found  their  station.  When  we 
marched  into  what  is  now  Blantyre,  it  consisted  of 
five  habitable  huts,  and  three  old  ones  which  were 
not  habitable.  As  to  church  or  school,  Bible  or 
books,  no   such   things  existed.      They  had    never 

numerous  stations  in  Nyasaland,  Portuguese  Zambesia,  North-Eastern 
and  North-Western  Rhodesia,  and,  in  addition  to  other  craft,  eight 
steamers  on  the  Zambesi  and  Shire  rivers,  two  on  Lake  Nyasa,  one  on 
Lake  Tanganyika  and  one  on  Lake  Mweru.  The  Company  act  as 
agents  for  various  Missionary  Societies,  and  carry  on  an  extensive 
trading,  transport,  and  banking  business,  besides  interesting  them- 
selves in  planting  operations,  etc. 

'  The  original  Company  suffered  severely  at  the  hands  of  coast 
Arabs  who,  resenting  attempts  to  introduce  legitimate  trade,  made  a 
determined  effort  to  clear  the  white  men  out  of  the  country  so  as  to 
remove  any  obstacle  to  the  continuance  of  slave-raiding  operations. 
Fighting  ensued,  but  eventually,  after  a  large  sum  of  money  had  been 
expended  by  the  Company,  the  Arab  slave-raiders  were  suppressed, 
and  the  country  came  under  the  direct  control  of  the  British  Govern- 
ment, the  Company  handing  over  their  treaty  rights. 

'  With  the  moral  and  intellectual  advancement  of  the  natives  of 
Central  Africa,  there  has  also  been  a  steady  development  of  the 
resources  of  the  country,  and  during  the  comparatively  short  period 
since  the  formation  of  the  Company,  many  changes  for  the  better  have 
taken  place,  and  the  conditions  of  life  have  vastly  improved.  Natives, 
who  in  other  days  would  have  contented  themselves  with  lolling  about 
in  their  villages,  are  now  employed  as  storekeepers,  carpenters, 
printers,  telegraphists,  typists,  etc.  In  great  measure  the  advance 
indicated  is  due  to  the  devotion  and  energy  displayed  by  the  mission- 
aries of  our  Scottish  Churches.' 

^  Situated  in  the  Shire  hills,  and  so  named  after  Livingstone's 
birthplace. 


THE  CHIEF  END  OF  LIVINGSTONIA       141 

been  heard  of.'  Now,  there  is  a  famous  and  well- 
filled  church,  built  of  brick  and  by  natives.  Blantyre 
has  now  a  municipality,  a  weekly  newspaper — The 
British  Central  African  Gazette — and  some  monthly 
sheets  of  a  missionary  kind.  There  are  four  or  five 
out-stations,  at  distances  of  thirty  to  forty  miles,  at 
each  of  which  there  is  a  church  and  school  and  real 
missionary  work  going  on.  The  railway  now  reaches 
Blantyre. 

In  the  midst  of  all  these  preliminaries  Stewart 
asks:  'Are  we  not  in  danger  of  forgetting  our  real 
purpose  in  this  land?  All  this  work,  pleasant  to 
see,  and  beneficial  as  it  will  be  in  its  results,  is 
material  only.  It  is  of  the  earth  earthy.  It  begins 
and  ends  with  time.  A  certain  text  kept  constantly 
recurring  to  my  mind  as  I  walked  about  the  place, 
*'  One  thing  is  needful." ' 

The  Lord's  Supper  was  celebrated  on  Lake  Nyasa 
for  the  first  time  on  November  26,  1877.  As  in  the 
Upper  Room  at  Jerusalem,  twelve  gathered  around 
the  Table  with  the  Master.  They  have  now  about 
four  thousand  native  communicants,  and  about  five 
thousand  candidates  for  communion. 

In  the  end  of  1877  Stewart  handed  over  the 
mission  to  Dr.  Laws,  and  returned  to  Loved  ale. 
He  had  spent  nearly  five  of  the  best  years  of  his 
life  in  the  establishment  of  Livingstonia. 


CHAPTER    XV 

LIVINGSTONIA,  YESTERDAY  AND   TO-DAY 

After  Thirty-three  Years — Lord  Overtoun — Dr.  William  Black 
— The  Heart  of  Livingstone — The  Stevenson  Road — The 
Sweet  First  Fruits — Industrialism — The  Zona  of  Nyasa- 
land — Report  by  Dr.  Laws  and  Rev.  J,  Fairley  Daly. 

•  The  mission  of  Blantyre  in  its  earliest  days  got  a  few  coffee  plants 
sent  out.  Two  only  survived  the  voyage  and  the  inland  journey.  From 
these  have  come  the  now  numerous  coffee  plantations  of  the  Shir6  and 
Manganga  hills.' — Dr.  Stewart. 

(These  words  represent  in  a  symbol  the  history  of  the  Livingstonia  and 
Blantyre  missions.) 

'The  story  of  Livingstonia  reads  like  a  fairy  tale.' — A  Glasgow 
Merchant. 

'  Greatly  do  I  wish  the  Free  Church  to  come  forward.  The  men  they 
would  send  would  adapt  themselves  to  the  work  and  stick  to  it.  I  would 
recommend  the  Free  Church  to  commence  operations  on  the  healthy 
heights  near  Lake  Nyasa.' — Livingstone  in  1874. 

You,  sympathetic  reader,  will  want  to  know  what 
harvest  has  been  reaped  from  the  good  seed  cast 
into  this  seemingly  unpromising  soil.  It  will  be  best 
to  tell  you  at  once.  It  is  fitting  to  do  so  here  as 
Stewart  wished  to  live  in,  for,  and  by  his  mission- 
work. 

It  is  now  thirty-three  years  since  the  natives 
gazed  upon  the  superhuman  prodigy  of  the  Ilala^ 
and  fled  in  terror  with  their  cattle  into  the  tall  grass. 
After  1877  Stewart  had  no  direct  connection  with 
th2  mission.     Since  then  it  has  been  under  the  very 

14S 


A  GREAT  MARVEL  143 

wise  and  successful  leadership  of  Robert  Laws,  D.D., 
M.D./  the  only  survivor  in  Africa  of  those  who  sang 
the  1 00th  Psalm  as  the  Ilala  entered  the  lake.  All 
along  he  has  been  supported  by  remarkably  gifted 
and  devoted  helpers  in  every  department  of  the 
work. 

The  mission  was  planned  on  the  model  of  Love- 
dale,  and  the  change  it  has  wrought  in  a  generation 
is  one  of  the  very  greatest  surprises  and  marvels 
recorded  in  history.^  These  thirty  years  have  wit- 
nessed improvements  which  are  usually  the  slow 
growth  of  centuries.  The  war-dresses  of  the  wild 
Angoni  have  long  ago  rotted  on  the  village  trees,  or 
been  sold  as  curios  to  travellers.  These  bloody  men 
are  now,  as  messengers  of  the  Prince  of  Peace, 
evangelising  the  villages  they  used  to  raid.  The 
dreaded  foragers  are  to-day  foraging  only  for  the 
great  Captain.  Livingstonia  is  now  a  rudimentary 
city  and  a  station  on  the  Cape-to-Cairo  line  of 
Telegraph.  The  Blantyre  Telegraph  alone  brings 
in  a  revenue  of  ;!^200  a  month,  and  the  annual  value 
of  the  export  of  coffee  from  it  is  over  ^60,000.  A 
recent  traveller  says  that  Livingstonia  looks  like  a 
large  industrial  centre  at  home,^  and  that  at  some 
services   he  found  hundreds  outside  the  church  as 

^  Sir  Harry  H.  Johnston  has  proclaimed  Dr.  Laws  'the  greatest 
man  in  Nyasaland.' 

^  The  first  work  of  the  founders  was  to  dispossess  the  lions,  leopards, 
and  big  game  which  were  then  the  sole  possessors  of  that  district. 
The  site  chosen  was  on  a  lofty  plateau,  and  about  five  miles  from  the 
Lake. 

'  Dr.  Stewart  expressed  his  belief  that  'it  would  develop  into  a 
town,  and  by  and  by  into  a  city,  and  that  there  would  yet  be  a 
Christian  Africa.'  Forty  years  ago  he  predicted  that  '  Central  Africa 
would  some  day  have  large  cities  and  well-cultivated  valleys,  that 
steamers  would  traverse  its  rivers  and  lakes,  and  that  native  common- 
wealths  would  be  established.' 


144  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

there  was  no  room  for  them  within.  The  disciples 
of  the  mission  observe  the  Christian  Sabbath  as  a 
May  of  the  heart' 

Livingstonia  is  now  regarded  as  a  health-resort 
for  Europeans.  It  has  also  a  splendid  water-supply 
and  an  electric  installation,  each  of  which  cost 
;^4000,  and  both  of  which  were  the  gift  of  the  late 
Lord  Overtoun,  whose  removal  from  us  has  brought 
sorrow  to  myriads  of  Africa's  dusky  sons  and 
daughters.  They  knew  him  well  and  loved  him  as 
the  great  Christian  chief  in  the  far-off  white  man's 
land,  who,  from  the  love  he  bore  them,  gave  them 
water  and  light  and  healing,  and  many  other  blessed 
"things.^  His  name  was,  and  will  continue,  a  house- 
hold word  among  them,  for  their  '  Lovedale,'  their 
great  Institution,  where  they  are  taught  the  white 
man's  wisdom  and  arts,  is  called  Overtoun.  Lord 
Overtoun's  gifts  to  this  mission  were  not  less  than 
;£^50,ooo,  and  the  man  was  behind,  and  in,  all  his 
gifts.  He  had  also  in  a  very  high  degree  the  in- 
stinct of  missionary  affection,  and  all  the  missionaries 
found  in  him  a  genial  personal  friend. 

An  electrical  engineer  is  on  the  mission  staff. 
The  station  is  now  lighted,  and  the  machinery  in 
the  large  workshops  is  driven,  by  electricity ;  motors 
are  used  for  flour-mills ;  and  the  natives  are  taught 
many  of  the  arts  and  crafts  of  civilised  life.  Among 
the  fourteen  hundred  students, '  there  is  no  pandering 
to  African  pride  or  indolence.  Every  one  has  to 
take  his  turn  at  manual  labour.  On  Sabbaths  the 
scholars  scatter  among  neighbouring  villages  to 
preach.'  ^ 

^  He  paid  the  salary  of  three  fully  qualified  physicians. 
*  '  Livingstonia    Mission    was    mentioned    in    the    British     Com- 
missioner's Report  as  "first  as  regards  the  value  of  its  contributions 


MODERN  MIRACLES  145 

Plans  have  been  prepared  for  an  up-to-date  hospital. 
'  All  these  grand  practical  results  of  the  labours  of  the 
missionaries/  as  a  recent  traveller  describes  them, 
'  are  found  in  a  land  where  twenty  years  ago  there 
was  not  a  single  native  industrial  mechanic.  The 
native  who,  twenty  years  ago,  could  not  be  per- 
suaded tc  work  more  than  four  days  at  a  stretch, 
now  submits  himself  to  a  five  years'  apprenticeship, 
and  becomes  a  fairly  good  workman.'  Men  and  lads 
are  coming  in  crowds,  some  of  them  travelling  on 
foot  for  six  weeks,  to  be  taught  trades.  The  African 
is  now  appreciating  the  fact  that  there  is  industrial 
work  for  him  to  do,  that  he  is  needed  for  the  work, 
and  able  to  do  it.  The  missionaries  had  lately  to 
refuse  over  one  hundred  and  twenty  who  wished  to 
be  trained  as  carpenters.  We  are  told  that  in  Ngoni- 
land  education  is  to-day  as  much  prized  as  in  Great 
Britain.  The  Ngoni  lived  as  wolves  among  sheep 
till  they  were  tamed  by  the  messengers  of  Jesus 
Christ.  '  Give  me  a  Gospel  for  an  assegai,'  one  of 
them  said  to  the  missionary,  '  as  the  love  of  war  has 
been  taken  out  of  my  heart.' 

In  October  1900  was  celebrated  the  semi-jubilee 
of  the  arrival  of  the  Ilala.  Almost  in  the  very 
region  where  Livingstone  had  been  lost  to  the  world 
for  years,  they  were  able  to  send  by  telegraph  in  less 

to  our  knowledge  of  African  languages."  Its  members  have  been 
obliged  to  master  eight  languages  or  tongues,  and  to  work  with  five 
others.  Two  and  a  half  millions  of  people  were  able  to  read  the 
Nyanja  Testament  as  soon  as  they  could  read  at  all.  Everything 
visible  of  civilisation  or  Christianity  in  Nyasaland  has  been  introduced 
within  thirty  years.' — Parson's  Ckrisius  Liberator,  p.  231.  Sir  H.  H. 
Johnston  says  of  Eandawe,  '  the  work  done  here  is  really  remarkable. 
...  It  is  one  of  the  most  creditable  and  agreeable  results  of  British 
missionary  enterprise  which  ever  gladdened  the  eyes  of  a  traveller 
weary  with  the  monotonous  savagery  of  African  wilds.' 

K 


146  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

than  three  hours,  and  by  the  hands  of  native  tele- 
graphists, a  message  of  greeting  to  Glasgow,  and  to 
receive  felicitations  from  Edinburgh.^ 

The  little  band  of  engineers  who  in  1900  laid  the 
British  South  African  Company's  telegraph  line  up 
the  west  coast  of  Lake  Nyasa,  had  not  a  single 
armed  man  among  them.  A  specific  instance  may 
help  to  impress  these  facts  upon  the  memory  and 
imagination  of  the  reader. 

In  1875  a  meeting  was  held  to  bid  God-speed  to 
Dr.  William  Black  and  three  missionary  artisans 
who  were  about  to  start  for  Livingstonia.  One  of 
them  said  something  like  this :  '  I  am  to  be  the 
blacksmith  of  Livingstonia.  I  am  to  teach  them 
ordinary  blacksmith  work,  but  also,  by  God's  grace, 
to  teach  them  the  blacksmith  work  they  need  most, 
and  that  is  to  beat  their  swords  into  ploughshares 
and  their  spears  into  pruning-hooks.' 

This  story  was  told  at  a  missionary  meeting  in 
1897.  On  leaving  the  meeting  I  met  one  of  the 
Livingstonia  missionaries,  then  home  on  furlough. 
'You  were  referring  to  my  friend,  Robert  Ross?' 
he  said.  'Yes,'  I  replied.  '  Well,'  he  continued,  'his 
hope  has  been  fulfilled  to  the  very  letter.  On  my 
way  home,  I  saw  a  field  of  wheat  at  Mwenzo,  which 
belonged  to  the  Mission.  The  Ngoni  were  reaping 
it  with  their  spears.  Not  one  of  their  assegais  is 
now  used  for  war.  They  have  beat  the  iron  of  some 
of  them  into  hoes,  which  are  the  native  plough- 
shares. With  other  spears  they  cut  their  grain  and 
prune  their  trees.  These  are  their  pruning-hooks. 
I  took  a  snapshot  of  the  Ngoni  reapers,  and  I  will 
send  you  a  copy  of  it.'  This  change  took  place  in 
twenty-one  years. 

*  See  David  Livingstone,  in  the  Famous  Scots  Series,  p.  147. 


A  NOBLE  MONUMENT  TO  LIVINGSTONE     147 

Lord  Salisbury  had  good  reason  for  describing 
these  and  the  neighbouring  missions  as  'splendid 
monuments  of  British  energy  and  enthusiasm  on 
Lake  Nyasa.' 

A  glance  at  the  map  will  show  how  the  mission 
stations  have  spread  into  the  hinterland.  The  last 
added  to  the  number  was  Chitambo,  where  the 
heart  of  Livingstone  is  buried.  It  is  two  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  west  of  Lake  Nyasa,  and  one  of  the 
missionaries  there  is  a  nephew  of  Livingstone,  and 
a  grandson  of  Robert  Moffat. 

A  stone  monument  has  been  erected  recently  on 
the  spot.  A  still  nobler  monument  is  the  work 
around.  On  the  monument  are  the  words,  '  He  died 
here.'  Underneath  might  be  written,  '  And  he  still 
lives  here.'  The  people  there  had  never  even  heard 
of  God  or  Christ.  When  the  children  were  first 
enrolled  for  the  school,  the  mothers  were  afraid  that 
they  would  be  eaten  by  the  missionaries !  *  The 
converts,'  Dr.  Laws  reports,  'have  liberality  and  a 
missionary  conscience.  All  the  adult  members  are 
expected  to  take  part  in  the  extension  of  the  Church 
of  Christ,  as  well  as  in  its  support'  The  Rev. 
Donald  Fraser  writes :  '  Last  year  four  to  seven 
thousand  souls  gathered  day  by  day  for  a  week  to 
hear  the  truths  of  the  Kingdom.  When  we  go  tour- 
ing, we  are  often  overwhelmed  with  presents  of  food. 
And  when  we  ask  for  free  labour  to  build  a  church 
or  school,  hundreds  upon  hundreds  give  their  ser- 
vices without  expectation  of  payment.' 

Eight  languages  have  already  been  reduced  to 
writing  by  the  staff  in  Livingstonia.  There  is  there 
an  educational  department  with  a  Normal  School 
and  a  Theological  Course.  '  Did  Livingstone  dream 
that  within  so  short  a  period  after  his  death  there 


148  STEWART  OF  LOVED  ALE 

would  be  a  Christian  reading  public  on  the  shores 
of  Lake  Nyasa,  subscribing  to  a  native  Christian 
periodical  with  such  contents  as  a  "  Commentary 
on  the  Romans"  and  the  "  Imitation  of  Christ"?' 

The  rapid  growth  of  the  Mission  is  due,  under 
God,  to  the  zeal,  ability,  and  sanctified  common- 
sense  of  the  missionaries.  No  part  of  the  work  has 
been  arrested  by  the  lack  of  suitable  volunteers. 
Usually  more  have  offered  than  could  be  accepted, 
and  not  a  few  of  them  have  had  the  highest  quali- 
fications in  their  own  departments.  But  it  would 
not  be  easy  to  exaggerate  the  services  given  by  the 
Livingstonia  Mission  Committee.  From  its  origin, 
many  of  its  members  have  been  leading  Glasgow 
merchants,  who  have  enriched  the  Mission  not  only 
by  their  princely  liberality,  but  also  by  their  skill 
and  personal  influence.  The  map  of  Central  Africa 
preserves  the  names  of  many  supporters  of  the 
Mission.  The  road  between  Lake  Nyasa  and 
Tanganyika  is  called  *  The  Stevenson  Road,'  after 
Mr.  James  Stevenson,  one  of  the  founders  of  Living- 
stonia, who,  in  addition  to  other  princely  donations 
to  the  Mission,  spent  ;i^4000  on  this  road.  Mr. 
James  White  of  Overtoun  was  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  from  1874  to  1884,  and  his  son,  the  late 
Lord  Overtoun,  was  Chairman  from  1884  to  1908. 
During  thirty  years  all  the  meetings  of  the  Com- 
mittee were  held  in  the  office  of  the  Chairman,  and 
to  all  the  details  of  the  Mission  father  and  son  and 
several  other  members  of  the  Committee  have  given 
as  earnest  attention  as  our  most  energetic  merchants 
usually  devote  to  their  business. 

Stewart  rejoiced  greatly  that  Livingstonia  did  so 
much  to  unite  the  Churches.  From  the  first  the 
Reformed  Presbyterian  Church,  the  United  Presby- 


THE  UNION  OF  THE  CHURCHES         149 

terian  Church,  and  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland — 
all  now  united  in  the  United  Free  Church — had  a 
share  in  the  Mission.  The  Reformed  Dutch  Church 
of  Cape  Colony  has  been  working  for  twenty  years 
in  alliance  with  these  Churches.  The  Blantyre 
Mission  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  and  the  Living- 
stonia  Mission  will  probably  soon  be  united  in  one 
native  African  Church. 

The  Rev.  J.  Fairley  Daly,  B.D,,  Honorary  Secretary 
of  the  Livingstonia  Committee,  has  supplied  the 
following  statement  about  the  present  position  of 
the  Mission  :  '  The  first  ten  years  were  largely  years 
of  exploration  and  pioneering,  during  which  educa- 
tional and  industrial  work  were  in  their  infancy. 
By  1885  the  Mission  was  firmly  established  on  the 
west  side  of  Lake  Nyasa,  with  Bandawe  as  its 
central  station.  But  there  were  only  nine  baptisms 
during  the  first  nine  years. 

'The  second  period  of  ten  years  (1885-1895)  were 
years  of  upbuilding  and  expansion.  Houses,  schools, 
churches,  and  stores  had  to  be  erected,  and  most 
of  the  brickmaking,  brick-building,  and  carpentry 
work  connected  with  these  was  done  by  natives 
trained  by  the  European  artisans  of  the  Mission. 
Passing  years  wrought  many  changes.  Out-stations 
and  Mission  buildings  multiplied.  The  foremost 
place  was  always  given  to  the  preaching  of  God's 
word,  and  the  church  roll  rose  to  nearly  three  hun- 
dred. At  the  close  of  the  decade  nearly  twelve 
thousand  pupils  were  in  daily  attendance  at  the 
schools. 

'The  third  decade  (1895-1905)  saw  the  Mission 
not  only  spreading  out  its  branches,  but  pushing 
down  its  roots  more  deeply  into  the  soil.  As  schools 
multiplied,  better  preparation   for  the  teachers  be- 


15©  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

came  a  necessity,  and  this  led  to  the  estabh'shment 
of  the  Overtoun  Institution  at  what  is  now  the 
central  station  of  Livingstonia.  From  places  as 
distant  as  Lake  Tanganyika  and  Lake  Mweru, 
from  Khama's  town  and  Natal,  selected  pupils  are 
being  sent  to  the  Overtoun  Institution  for  higher 
training. 

'  The  work  done  has  a  literary  and  industrial  side, 
and  is  for  both  males  and  females.  Up  to  1907 
about  seven  hundred  pupils  have  been  enrolled  as 
boarders  on  the  literary  side,  and  over  three  hun- 
dred have  been  received  as  apprentices  on  the 
industrial  side,  of  whom  between  sixty  and  seventy 
have  become  journeymen.  Four  students  have  com- 
pleted the  Theological  Course,  and  two  the  Medical 
Course.  After  passing  through  the  Elementary  and 
Middle  Schools,  five  courses  are  open  to  the  pupils 
on  the  literary  side — Normal,  Commercial,  Arts, 
Medical,  and  Theological.  On  the  industrial  side 
there  are  five  departments — Agriculture,  Building, 
Carpentry,  Engineering  and  Blacksmithing,  Printing 
and  Bookbinding.  The  Institution  is  a  centre  of 
evangelisation.  Over  seventeen  tribes  are  repre- 
sented. On  Sundays,  in  addition  to  varied  services, 
the  villages  for  ten  or  twelve  miles  round  are  visited 
and  the  Gospel  of  God's  saving  grace  proclaimed. 
Livingstonia  is  the  lona  of  Nyasaland. 

'  In  thirty  years  the  Mission  has  spread  over  a 
district  west  of  Lake  Nyasa  two  hundred  miles  from 
north  to  south,  and  three  hundred  miles  from  east 
to  west.  There  are  now  eight  large  central  stations, 
the  last  established  being  at  Chitambo,  where  David 
Livingstone  died.  The  progress  made  may  be  best 
illustrated  in  tabular  form  : — 


i87S- 

1907. 

4 

45 

None 

1000 

None 

480 

I 

8 

None 

500 

None 

36,419 

None 

3927 

WORKS  OF  HEALING  151 

Agents  and  Agencies 
European  Missionaries, 
Native  Teachers, 
Schools,    . 
Stations,  . 
Out-stations,    . 
Scholars,  . 
Communicants, 
Catechumens  (Candidates  for  Com- 
munion),         None  5219 

The  future  is  full  of  hope,  for  the  fields  are  white 
to  harvest.  Throughout  Nyasaland  there  is  a  move- 
ment tovv^ards  God,  which  promises  great  things  for 
the  native  church. 

'Nine  medical  missionaries  and  three  nurses  are 
making  widely  felt  the  kindly  influence  of  their 
healing  art,  and  winning  the  trust  and  confidence 
of  the  people.  In  1906  they  treated  over  thirty-six 
thousand  cases.  At  all  the  central  stations  are  small 
local  hospitals,  and  at  Livingstonia  a  beginning  has 
been  made  with  the  erection  of  a  larger  hospital, 
called  the  David  Gordon  Memorial  Hospital,  destined 
to  become  a  training-school  in  medicine  and  nursing 
for  Africa's  sons  and  daughters.' 

We  add  an  extract  from  a  letter  of  date  October 
22,  1906.  It  was  sent  by  Sir  Alfred  Sharpe,  Gover- 
nor of  Nyasaland,  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  after  a 
second  visit  to  Livingstonia.  He  writes:  '  It  is  a 
most  interesting  place.  The  object  of  the  Institu- 
tion is  the  industrial  education  of  the  natives,  the 
very  best  form  of  mission-work,  and  I  cannot  too 
highly  praise  the  undertaking  which  is  being  carried 
on.  It  is  good,  sensible  work,  which  is  useful  to  the 
country  now,  and  will  be  still  more  so  in  the  years 
to  come.  The  whole  place  is  worked  on  business 
principles,  not  on  sentimental  lines.     I  have  not  seen 


152  STEWART  OF  LOVED  ALE 

the  Lovedale  Institution  in  South  Africa,  which  is 
larger  than  the  Overtoun  Institution,  but,  with  that 
exception,  I  do  not  think  there  is  any  missionary 
institution  in  Central  Africa  of  so  useful  and  entirely 
satisfactory  a  description  as  that  carried  on  by  Dr. 
Laws.  On  the  ist  of  January  of  the  present  year 
he  had  a  total  number  of  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
three  apprentices.' 

In  this  way  the  Livingstonia  Mission,  first 
suggested  by  Stewart,  is  a  growing  evangelistic, 
educational,  medical,  and  industrial  influence  in 
Central  Africa.  The  boys  of  its  Overtoun  Institu- 
tion may  now  be  met  far  from  Lake  Nyasa,  bearing 
good  testimony  to  Christ  by  word  and  action.  Mr. 
Moffat,  travelling  to  his  new  station  by  the  Cape-to- 
Cairo  Railway,  wrote  that  a  feature  of  his  journey 
was  the  number  of  Livingstonia  boys  whom  he  met 
at  various  places,  such  as  Bulawayo,  Salisbury, 
Broken  Hill,  and  elsewhere,  and  all  doing  well. 
Quite  a  number  were  church  members,  one  had 
been  ordained  an  elder,  and  some  were  holding 
Sunday  services  where  they  resided.  Of  these  many 
will  doubtless  say  in  future  years — as  an  old  chief 
said  to  Dr.  Laws  regarding  some  of  his  young 
teachers — '  God  bless  the  day  these  lads  came  to  our 
village.' 

Thus  was  Livingstone's  prediction  fulfilled  :  '  Al- 
though I  shall  not  live  to  see  it,  yet  there  will 
certainly  come  a  day  when  the  Gospel  will  be 
planted  in  this  blessed  land.' 

Dr.  Laws  reports  that  the  native  congregation  at 
Bandawe  has  1348  communicants,  of  whom  1022 
sat  down  together  at  the  Lord's  Table,  20  elders, 
26  deacons,  768  catechumens,  40  preaching  stations, 
7039  at  Sabbath-schools  and  Bible-classes,  9252  on 


BLESSINGS  THAT  ARE  BURDENS         153 

roll  of  week-day  schools,  with  an  average  attend- 
ance of  4070.  Last  year  they  gave  £1^7  for  religious 
objects,  and  ;^73  for  school  fees.  The  Mission  has 
covered  with  hundreds  of  schools  an  area  equal 
to  that  of  Scotland.  At  Overtoun  they  have  7 
theological,  2  medical,  and  4  arts  students.  There 
are  3  native  licentiates,  one  of  whom  is  about  to 
be  ordained.  Four  boys  lately  v/alked  two  hundred 
miles  to  be  taught,  and  some  students  come  from 
Lake  Tanganyika  and  Garenganze  in  the  Congo 
State.  Some  of  the  churches  are  beautiful  brick 
buildings  of  native  workmanship.  '  Our  blessings 
have  become  our  burdens,'  Dr.  Laws  says,  '  so  great 
has  been  the  growth  of  the  Mission.'  Every  com- 
municant is  expected  to  be  a  missionary.  Over 
a  hundred  have  already  gone  forth  as  certificated 
teachers  and  evangelists.  They  are  creating  a 
Christendom  in  the  heart  of  darkest  Africa.  Dr. 
Laws  has  examined  over  nineteen  hundred  candi- 
dates for  communion.  The  miracles  of  the  early 
Church  have  been  repeated,  and  they  who  were  not 
a  people  are  becoming  the  people  of  God.  The 
Mission  has  founded  a  church  and  is  moulding  a 
nation. 

We  need  not  be  curious  about  Stewart's  exact 
share  in  the  great  work  of  Livingstonia,  in  which  there 
have  been  so  many  willing  and  successful  helpers. 
The  Rev.  Horace  Waller,  the  editor  of  Living- 
stone's last  Journals,  in  1894  wrote  to  his  fellow- 
explorer,  Stewart :  '  I  can  humbly  perceive  what  a 
factor  your  own  life  has  been  in  the  regeneration  of 
Central  Africa  after  1864.  It  wanted  some  one  to 
keep  hold  of  the  thread  of  former  experience  and 
aspirations.  .  .  .  Meanwhile  it  was  left  to  your  Scots 
Churches  to  answer  to  the  voice  which  you  raised 


154  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

among  them.  All  honour  to  you  all  for  it.  You 
know  that  it  has  been  one  of  the  pleasures  of  my 
own  life  to  watch  your  efforts  as  churches,  and  where 
I  could,  to  help.' 

It  has  been  said  that  the  best  cordial  for  drooping 
spirits  is  to  study  the  history  of  the  Church  in  the 
early  ages.  Probably  few  pages  in  it  record  any 
more  inspiring  miracles  of  missions  than  the  story 
of  Livingstonia.  Three  thousand  years  ago  a  Jew, 
possessed  by  a  spirit  greater  than  his  own,  rose 
above  the  extreme  limitations  of  his  age  and  race 
and  gave  forth  this  astounding  prophecy :  '  There 
shall  be  a  handful  of  corn  in  the  earth  upon  the  top 
of  the  mountains,  the  fruit  thereof  shall  shake  like 
Lebanon,  and  they  of  the  city  shall  flourish  like 
grass  of  the  earth.  His  name  shall  endure  for  ever  : 
His  name  shall  be  continued  as  long  as  the  sun  : 
and  men  shall  be  blessed  in  Him :  all  nations  shall 
call  Him  blessed.  And  blessed  be  His  glorious 
name  for  ever ;  and  let  the  whole  earth  be  filled  with 
His  glory:  Amen,  and  Amen. 


CHAPTER    XVI 

THE   ESSENTIAL   ETHIOPIAN^ 

Bishop  Colenso — How  to  'think  black' — The  African  Warrior — 
The  Sluggard — African  Religion — Nature's  Gentleman — 
The  Raw  Kafir — Religious  Instincts — African  Loyalty. 

'  Men  are  apt  to  be  impressed  by  the  unknown.' — Galgacus,  as  reported 
by  Tacitus. 

'  A  man  cannot  live  without  charms.' — Bechuana  Proverb. 

'Do  you  know  why  man  is  the  most  suffering  creature  in  the  world?  It 
is  because  he  stands  with  one  foot  in  the  finite,  and  the  other  in  the 
infinite,  and  is  torn  asunder,  not  by  four  horses,  but  by  two  worlds.' — 
Lamennais. 

'The  Zulus  are  a  wonderful  people.  They  defeat  our  generals 
(Isandhlwana\  they  convert  our  Bishops  (Colenso),  and  they  add  finis  to 
the  fortunes  of  a  French  Dynasty  (the  Prince  Im^&naX).'— Disraeli. 

In  the  beginning  of  1878  Stewart  returned  from 
Livingstonia  to  Lovedale.  During  the  years  1878 
to  1890  he  was  on  what  may  be  called  the  level 
tableland    of  his    life.      These   years   had    not   the 

^  Light  is  shed  on  this  subject  by  the  lives  of  the  great  African 
missionaries,  chiefly  by  those  of  Livingstone  and  Coillard.  Three 
recent  very  valuable  books  introduce  us  to  the  modern  Ethiopian — 
Dudley  Kidd's  The  Essential  Kafir ;  Savage  Childhood:  A  Study  of 
Kafir  Children  (the  first  English  book  on  this  subject)  ;  and  Kafir 
Socialism  and  the  Dawn  of  Individualism :  An  Introduction  to  the 
Study  of  the  Native  Problem  (newly  published).  (A.  and  C.  Black.) 
The  heading  of  this  chapter  has  been  suggested  by  the  first  of  these. 
The  adjective  '  Essential'  is  here  used,  as  Mr.  Kidd  uses  it,  to  denote 
those  qualities  which  are  common  to  all  the  tribes  in  South  Africa, 
and  form  what  may  be  called  their  national  Catholic  religion. 

166 


156  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

same  romantic  incidents  as  the  pioneering  days,  for 
they  were  devoted  chiefly  to  the  consolidation  and 
expansion  of  Lovedale.  Confusion  must  overtake 
us  if  our  record  of  this  period  attempts  to  keep 
equal  step  with  the  growing  years.  We  must, 
therefore,  for  the  present  abandon  the  chronological 
order,  and  describe  consecutively  what  was  con- 
temporaneous. We  shall  thus  devote  a  separate 
chapter  to  each  of  Stewart's  many-sided  activities  ; 
for  he  was  at  this  time  a  Missionary,  an  Education- 
alist, an  Agriculturalist,  a  Captain  of  Industry,  a 
Physician,  a  Preacher,  an  Author,  and  a  Statesman 
who  had  some  share  in  shaping  the  laws.  All  these 
efforts  were  intertwined,  but  we  can  untwist  the 
strands,  and  then  reunite  them.  It  will  help  us  to 
understand  him  in  all  his  capacities,  if  we  begin  by 
examining  the  human  material  upon  which  he  was 
always  working.  The  subject  has  many  attractions 
for  all  students  of  mankind  and  of  comparative 
religion,  and  it  will  reveal  the  environment  of  the 
African  missionary,  and,  to  some  extent,  of  all 
foreign  missionaries. 

There  are  three  attitudes  toward  the  native : 
extravagant  laudation,  pagan  scorn,  and  Christian 
reasonableness.  The  first  is  represented  by  Bishop 
Colenso,  who  petted  and  spoiled  the  Zulus.  He 
regarded  them  as  a  glorious  race,  destined  to  guide, 
'absorb  and  assimilate'  the  white  man.  Some  at 
the  other  extreme  would  practically  deny  him  the 
bare  rights  of  manhood.  Between  these  two  stand 
all  reasonable  Christians,  who  accept  him  as  a 
member  of  the  human  family  and  capable  of  eleva- 
tion. No  one  was  more  reasonable  in  this  matter 
than  Stewart  was. 

Lovedale    had    pupils   from   some   fifteen   tribes 


THE  SOUL  OF  THE  ETHIOPIAN  157 

south  of  the  Zambesi.  Nearly  all  were  from  the 
parent  stock  of  the  Bantus.  The  Makololo,  the 
Banyai,  and  the  Barotsi  were  originally  Zulus. 
Hence  Coillard's  native  Basuto  evangelists  could  at 
once  address  Lewanika's  people  in  their  mother- 
tongue.  The  wild  Ngoni  around  Lake  Nyasa  were 
also  of  the  Zulu  stock,  and  so  they  could  understand 
William  Koyi  from  Lovedale. 

All  missionaries  agree  that  it  is  very  hard,  some 
would  say  that  it  is  impossible,  thoroughly  to 
explore  the  black  mind,  or  to  'think  black.'  'It  is  no 
disparagement  to  his  insight  into  native  character,' 
writes  one  of  Stewart's  friends,  '  to  say  that  the  more 
he  knew  them,  the  more  he  recognised  that  inscrut- 
able something  which  has  puzzled  the  most  experi- 
enced missionaries.'  Selous,  the  hunter,  says  that 
he  failed  to  fathom  the  native  mind.  '  The  character 
of  the  Zambesians,'  writes  Coillard,  '  is  like  the 
cataracts  of  Musi  Oa  Tunya  (the  Victoria  Falls). 
One  cannot  sound  them,  or  yet  even  see  the 
bottom.' 

It  seems  that  the  native  can  be  many  men  at 
once :  he  can  say  one  thing,  think  another,  and  do  a 
third.  The  best  informed  often  say  regarding  him  : 
'  After  all,  one  never  knows.' 

Many  place  the  Kafir  next  to  the  white  man, 
though  he  is  prone  to  believe  that  everything  needs 
a  lie.  The  Ethiopian  is  usually  a  great  liar,  and  he 
dearly  loves  superlatives,  finding  in  big  words  an 
apparent  relief  from  the  little  things  that  make  up 
his  life.  For  centuries  he  has  had  to  practise  such 
habits  of  concealment  as  weak  wild  beasts  use  when 
encircled  by  powerful  and  cunning  beasts  of  prey. 
Then  he  is  polite,  and  lies  from  his  desire  to  please 
the  white  man.     '  They  value  politeness  more  than 


iS8  STEWART  OF  LOVED  ALE 

truthfulness,'  Dudley  Kidd  says.  Stewart  regarded 
the  native  as  a  diplomatist,  who,  like  diplomatists 
all  the  world  over,  is  full  of  suspicion,  and,  in  self- 
defence,  studies  'an  economy  of  truth,'  and  will 
never  commit  himself  till  he  has  discovered  the 
probable  consequences.  Hence  in  his  dealings  with 
his  neighbours  his  intellect  is  often  his  accomplice 
rather  than  his  guide.  Some  heathen  practices  clave 
at  first  to  the  early  Christians  who  were  deeply 
devoted  to  Christ,  and  so  the  Christian  native  needs 
to  have  his  conscience  trained,  especially  regarding 
his  besetting  sins  of  lying,  ingratitude,  and  dis- 
honesty. 

It  has  been  said  that  in  their  native  state  all  the 
roots  of  their  nature  were  exhausted  in  the  pro- 
duction of  one  sterile  orchid — the  warrior  without  a 
conscience.  In  their  creed  war  was  the  chief  end 
for  which  man  was  made,  as  with  Homer's  heroes. 
*To  go  on  plundering  expeditions  against  other 
people,'  an  African  replied,  when  asked  for  what 
purpose  he  had  been  made.  Chaka,  the  Napoleon 
of  South  Africa,  is  said  to  have  killed  one  million  of 
people  in  his  wars.  Lo  Bengula's  title  was  *  the 
Eater  of  his  People,'  and  his  capital,  the  last  great 
stronghold  of  African  heathenism,  was  called  Bula- 
wayo, '  the  place  of  slaughter.'  Yet  cruelty  is  not  a 
distinction  of  the  native  except  when  specially  pro- 
voked. Stewart  said  that,  when  a  medical  student 
in  Edinburgh,  he  was  more  afraid  of  the  white 
heathen  there  than  he  was  in  after  years  of  the 
black  heathen  in  Africa.  I  have  heard  him  say 
that  he  found  in  Africa  nothing  so  shameful  as  the 
wife-beating  by  drunkards  at  home. 

These  earth-children  are  a  very  sensual  race,  but 
paganism  is  protected  from  complete  disclosure  by 


INCURABLE  LAZINESS  159 

the  enormity  of  its  vices  :  among  them  is  the  shame 
that  cannot  be  explained  or  even  named  for  shame. 
Kidd  makes  exceedingly  painful  statements  about 
the  atrocious  immorality  of  their  celebrations  when 
boys  and  girls  enter  on  manhood  and  womanhood. 
The  fountains  of  their  life  are  then  poisoned,  and  the 
native  girls  are  treated  as  chattels,  not  as  persons. 
'  The  imagination  of  the  Kafir  runs  to  seed  after 
puberty.  It  would  be  safer  to  say  that  it  runs  to  sex.' 
(Kidd.)  Educationalists  believe  that  this  is  the  reason 
why  the  natives  keep  pace  with  the  whites  till  about 
fifteen  years  of  age,  and  then  fall  far  behind  them.^ 

Stewart  denies  that  the  Ethiopian  is  incurably 
lazy,  and  Dudley  Kidd  and  Sir  Harry  Johnston 
agree  with  him.  He  is  not  lazy  as  a  warrior,  a 
hunter,  a  carrier,  or  a  runner  in  the  ricksha,  the 
man-drawn  carriage.  Like  people  nearer  home,  he 
works  only  when  he  has  a  sufficient  motive.  He 
greatly  enjoys  warm  and  social  laziness,  but  he 
is  capable  of  great  exertion  and  perseverance. 
Stewart  highly  appreciated  their  services  as  carriers. 
In  an  article  in  the  Nineteenth  Century  for  January  of 
this  year.  Sir  Harry  H.  Johnston  says  that,  all  things 
being  equal,  the  negro  is  as  willing  to  work  for  a 
salary  as  the  Asiatic  or  the  European.  This  has 
been  proved,  he  says,  on  a  large  scale  by  the 
construction  of  the  Congo  Railway  The  negro's 
reputed  laziness,  he  maintains,  is  due  to  the  fact 
that  for  centuries  he  has  been  regarded  'as  a  fit 
subject  to  be  cheated.'  No  doubt,  like  people  in 
other  lands,  he  wishes  to  secure  the  prizes  of  life 
without  paying  the  price. 

The   South    African    Native  Affairs  Commission 

1  Mr.  Bryce,  in  his  Impressions  of  AJrica,  says  that  our  Government 
now  forbids  these  evil  rites,  as  well  as  the  '  smelling  out '  of  witches. 


i6o  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

say :  '  The  theory  that  the  South  African  natives 
are  hopelessly  indolent  may  be  dismissed  as  being 
not  in  accordance  with  facts.' 

The  chief  difficulty  with  the  genuine  Ethiopian  is 
to  get  him  to  think.  He  always  turns  up  laughing, 
whatever  his  troubles  may  be.  Life  is  treated  by 
him  as  a  joke.  His  ideals  are  few  and  low,  and  he 
is  not  sobered  by  the  struggle  for  existence.  An 
animal  programme  of  life  contents  him,  and  his 
idea  of  personal  responsibility  is  very  faint.  '  He  is 
the  greatest  optimist  of  all  the  human  types.' 

Like  the  rest  of  mankind,  the  Africans  are  a 
religious  race,  though  they  have  neither  temple,  nor 
idol,  nor  stated  worship,  nor  written  creed.  The 
universal  heathen  heart  has  still  something  of  its 
fatherland  in  it :  if  you  go  deep  enough,  you  will 
find  the  instincts  of  God  and  the  life  to  come  even 
among  those  who  are  at  the  swine  troughs.  Homer 
truly  says,  '  As  young  birds  ope  their  mouths  for 
food,  so  all  men  crave  for  the  gods.'  '  Religion  is 
not  a  new  invention,'  says  Max  Miiller,  *  it  is  at  least 
as  old  as  the  world  we  know.  The  earliest  man  was 
in  possession  of  religion,  or  rather  possessed  by 
religion.  There  is  no  trace  of  the  making  of  religion 
out  of  the  rudest  of  materials.  It  grows  wild  and 
luxuriates,  like  wind-sown  plants  in  the  richest  soil.' 
*  As  for  the  inscription  of  a  deity  in  their  hearts,' 
says  Fuller, '  it  need  not  be  new  written,  but  only  new 
scoured  in  them.'  Among  the  heathen,  religion 
needs  not  to  be  created,  but  to  be  corrected.  Their 
hearts,  like  ours,  require  a  god.  There  are  kindred 
rays  in  all  men,  and  from  the  same  source,  and 
beclouded  by  the  same  errors.  Tertullian  taught 
that  religion  was  as  old  as  the  world,  and  that  the 
soul  of  man  was  naturally  Christian.     When  rightly 


IDENTITY  IN  MORALS  AND  SPIRITUALS    i6i 

understood,  every  religion  is,  in  some  degree,  a  pre- 
paration for  the  teaching  of  Christianity.  Africa 
wishes  to  worship  God,  but  does  not  know  how, 
and  gropes  about  like  a  blind  man.  Popular  super- 
stitions are  practically  the  same  in  all  heathen  races 
and  have  their  origin  in  the  same  definite  facts  and 
experiences ;  and  many  of  them  survive  even  in 
nominally  Christian  lands.  As  with  the  wise  men 
from  the  East,  and  as  with  some  who  met  Christ  in 
the  days  of  His  flesh,  superstition  may  pave  the  way 
for  the  true  faith.  These  world-wide  facts  are  a 
striking  proof  of  the  unity  of  our  race,  and  especially 
of  the  essential  identity  of  men  in  moral  and  spiritual 
things.  Julius  Caesar  and  Augustus  believed  in 
magic  as  thoroughly  as  the  Africans  of  to-day. 
Child-life  everywhere  is  essentially  the  same,  though 
a  white  child  sucks  the  thumb  and  a  black  the  tore- 
finger.  The  life-blood  in  all  men  is  red,  and  flows 
according  to  the  same  laws. 

The  Ethiopian  believes  that  his  life  at  every  point 
touches  the  supernatural.  He  lives  continually  in 
an  atmosphere  of  spiritual  things.  His  use  of  the 
poison  cup  and  other  ordeals  is  an  appeal  to  a 
spiritual  and  final  tribunal.  Such  a  practice  was 
common  in  England  in  King  Alfred's  day,  and  re- 
garded as  a  direct  appeal  to  God.  The  African  is 
hag-ridden  by  religious  fears,  many  of  which  are 
shadows  projected  by  his  accusing  conscience  and 
by  centuries  of  frightful  oppression.  *  I  believe  in 
devils,'  is  the  first  article  of  his  creed.  Feeling  help- 
less in  the  presence  of  the  unseen,  he  grows  old  in 
seeking  imaginary  relief  from  imaginary  evils,  and 
in  vain  efforts  to  '  square '  the  evil  spirits  with  which 
he  peoples  the  unseen  world,  and  whose  hearts,  he 
believes,  are  full  of  vengeance  and    mischief     The 

L 


i62  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

amulets  he  wears  are  to  protect  him  against  their 
malignity.  All  his  customs  about  witchcraft  are 
based  upon  a  belief  in  a  world  of  spirits.  In  him  we 
see  religion  gone  mad,  but  it  is  religion  still,  and  by 
far  the  mightiest  force  in  his  life.  This  bewildered 
religion  proves  that  the  African  is  a  man. 

Some  praise  picturesque  '  heathendom '  and  tell 
us  that  the  man  of  Africa  is  '  nature's  gentleman,' 
happy  in  his  raw  state,  and  that  he  should  be  let 
alone.  That  is  an  old  story,  for  Homer  describes 
the  '  Ethiops '  as  an  '  embrowned  '  people,  who  dwell 
'  most  remote  '  from  men,  in  a  state  of  native  virtue  ; 
and  some  classical  writers  used  to  locate  Paradise 
among  the  blameless  Ethiopians  whom  the  gods 
loved  to  visit.  The  ancient  and  the  modern  views 
are  equally  fables. 

This  objection  to  Foreign  Missions  is  also  very 
old,  for  Julian  said  that  Christian  fishers  take  men 
out  of  the  element  in  which  they  are  free  and  happy. 

But  what  are  the  facts?  The  traveller  could 
hardly  find  in  any  other  land  more  woebegone 
faces  than  in  South  Africa,  and  years  impirint  more 
wrinkles  on  the  heart  than  on  the  face.  The  native 
child,  black  but  comely,  and  as  chubby  as  a  Cupid, 
looks  like  a  statue  of  the  boy  Apollo  painted  black ; 
but  when  he  passes  middle  life,  he  bears  the  most 
monstrous  traces  of  care  and  fear.  His  face  is  like 
corrugated  iron,  and  his  '  wrinkles  seem  to  obliterate 
the  features  and  to  be  graven  down  to  the  very 
skull.'  They  all  keenly  feel  the  mysteries  around 
life  and  death,  and  they  are  like  the  Greeks  in 
Homer's  day  who  attributed  death  to  the  arrows  of 
Apollo  or  Artemis.  The  bow  with  the  bowstring 
cut  across  is  their  touching  symbol  of  death.  They 
do  not  believe  that  any  death  comes  from  natural 


COMPARATIVE  RELIGION  163 

causes.  '  Death  inspires  them  with  terror,'  writes 
Decle  in  his  Three  Years  hi  Savage  Africa.  '  They 
have  an  unspeakable  horror  of  a  corpse.  The  boldest 
hunter  when  dying  will  call  for  his  mother,  though 
she  has  been  dead  for  years.  He  knows  no  one  else 
who  would  be  minded  to  help  him  through  the  dark 
valley.  It  seems  that  the  sacred  writer  must  have 
known  them  when  he  wrote,  "  Through  fear  of  death 
— all  their  life-time  subject  to  bondage."' 

David  Livingstone  knew  the  native,  if  ever  man 
did.  More  than  any  other  man,  he  explored  both 
the  heart  of  Africa  and  of  the  African.  His  books 
are  a  rich  mine  of  information,  illustration,  and 
suggestion  regarding  this  attractive  subject.^  We 
are  sure  that  he  sets  forth  there  what  were  also 
the  deepest  convictions  of  Stewart.  Both  very 
generously  recognised  all  that  is  good  and  hopeful 
in  the  native  religion,  as  Paul  did  at  Athens. 

'  Nothing,'  Livingstone  says,  '  is  more  heartrend- 
ing than  their  death  wails.'  He  speaks  of  their 
'dread  of  the  strange  land  beyond  the  mountains.' 
'  Great  Father,  give  us  rest  and  peace,'  was  their 
pathetic  appeal  to  him.  '  Do  people  die  with  you  ? ' 
asked  two  intelligent  young  men.  '  Have  you  no 
charm  against  death  ?  Where  do  people  go  after 
death?' 

Livingstone  believes  as  firmly  as  Paul  did  in  the 
conscience  and  religious  instinct  of  the  heathen. 
He  says :  '  A  belief  in  a  supreme,  the  Maker  or 
Ruler  of  all  things,  and  in  the  continued  existence 
of  departed  spirits,  is  universal.  The  fact  that  His 
Son  appeared  among  men  and  left  His  words  in  a 
book,    always    awakens    attention.     The    primitive 

^  The  fullest  consecutive  statement  of  Livingstone's  missionary 
creed  is  found  in  the  last  pages  of  The  Zambesi  and  its  Tributaries. 


i64  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

African  faith  seems  to  be  that  there  is  one  Almighty 
maker  of  heaven  and  earth.  Their  idea  of  moral 
evil  differs  in  no  respect  from  ours.  The  only  new 
addition  to  their  moral  code  is,  that  it  is  wrong  to 
have  more  wives  than  one.  They  believe  in  a  Pro- 
vidence, a  Judge,  and  an  Almighty  King.  All  the 
Africans  we  have  met  with  are  as  firmly  persuaded 
of  their  future  existence  as  of  their  present  life. 
They  regard  the  dead  as  living.  And  we  have  found 
none  in  whom  the  belief  in  the  Supreme  Being  was 
not  rooted.  .  .  .  Some  begin  to  pray  in  secret  to 
Jesus  as  soon  as  they  hear  of  the  white  man's  God, 
and,  no  doubt,  are  heard  by  Him,  Who,  like  as  a 
Father  pitieth  His  children.  As  I  glance  over  their 
deeds  of  generosity,  recorded  in  my  Journal,  my 
heart  glows  with  gratitude  to  them,  and  I  hope  and 
pray  that  God  may  spare  me  to  make  some  return 
to  them.  .  .  .  If  this  fails  to  interest  them  (the  story 
of  the  Birth,  Life,  and  Death  of  Jesus  Christ)  nothing 
else  will  succeed.  .  .  .  Unquestionably  a  great  amount 
of  goodness  exists  in  the  midst  of  all  their  evil.' 
He  tells  that  he  had  seen  a  mighty  hunter  sink  to 
the  ground,  melted  into  tears  by  the  story  of  Christ. 
The  Ethiopians  who  are  not  familiar  with  town- 
life  among  the  Europeans,  have  a  most  pathetic 
sense  of  their  inferiority  in  presence  of  the  white 
men,  and  are  therefore  very  apt  to  be  influenced  by 
missionaries  who  have  won  their  confidence.  '  Truly 
ye  are  gods,'  they  exclaim  when  they  see  some  of 
the  wonders  of  civilisation.  '  God  made  the  white 
man  first,  but  did  not  love  us  black  men,'  The 
ambition  of  many  is  to  be  white.  '  I  really  think 
that  my  face  is  becoming  whiter,'  said  an  Ethiopian, 
as  he  looked  at  the  glass  after  several  severe  scour- 
ings  in  the  hope  of  changing  his  skin.     One  day 


A  PATHETIC  CONFESSION  165 

King  Lewanika  asked  Coillard,  '  Where  do  the 
descendants  of  Japheth  dwell  ? '  'In  Europe,'  was 
the  reply.  '  And  where  are  the  descendants  of 
Shem?'  'In  Asia,'  Coillard  answered.  'You  need 
not  tell  me,'  the  King  added,  'that  Ham  was  the 
father  of  Africa.  I  knew  it  long  ago.'  '  Why  so, 
Lewanika?'  Coillard  asked.  *  Ah,  my  father,  the 
curse.' 

All  the  great  African  missionaries  have  proved 
that  the  Ethiopian  is  capable  of  a  splendid  devotion 
to  the  white  man  in  whom  he  can  completely  believe. 
The  world  knows  by  heart  the  story  of  Chuma  and 
Susi,  and  how,  after  a  year's  terrible  march  to  the 
coast,  they  brought  the  body  of  their  beloved  chief 
from  Ilala  to  London.  That  story  stands  alone  in 
history.  Facts  like  these  justify  the  belief  that  men 
who  can  display  such  an  earthly  allegiance  may  also 
come  under  leal-hearted  allegiance  to  the  Saviour  of 
mankind. 


CHAPTER    XVII 

THE   MISSION  \RY 

Consecration — The  Salvability  of  the  Heathen — Keen  Sym- 
pathy —  Evangelism  —  Practical  Religion  —  Mr.  D.  A. 
Hunter's  Testimony — The  Missionary's  Sacrifices — Love 
of  Home. 

'  We  seldom  speak  about  missions:  we  live  for  them.' — A  Moravian 
Lady, 

'  Whoever  believes  that  a  world-wide  religion  is  possible  is  insane. ' — 
Celsus. 

'  The  missionary  seems  to  me  the  best  and  purest  hero  this  century  has 
produced.' — Joseph  Thomson,  the  African  Traveller . 

'  The  fiery  tongues  of  Pentecost, 
His  symbols  were  that  they  should  preach 
In  every  form  of  human  speech, 
From  continent  to  continent.' — Longfellow, 

'  Despairing  of  no  man.' — Luke  vi.  35  {J?.  V.  margin). 

Before  all  things  and  in  all  things  Stewart  was  a 
n:iissionary.  'James  Stewart,  Missionary,'  was  the 
fitting  inscription  on  his  coffin,  and  also  on  the  title- 
pages  of  many  of  his  books,  '  He  completed  my 
idea  of  a  missionary,'  writes  one  of  his  neighbours. 
The  leading  features  of  his  missionary  life  are  easily 
recognised. 

He   was   a    missionary  with  his  whole  heart  and 
soul.     With  the  consent  of  all  within  him  he  believed 

166 


THE  SECRET  OF  MISSIONARY  SUCCESS     167 

in  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  in  its  adaptations 
to  the  needs  of  all  men. 

A  happy  certainty  lay  at  the  base  of  his  faith,  and 
gave  him  a  message  without  a  perhaps.  He  had 
also  a  full  persuasion  that  God  had  called  him  to  the 
work  of  Christ  among  the  heathen.  This  missionary 
idea  got  into  his  heart  in  his  teens,  and  circulated 
with  his  blood  all  through  his  life.  It  was  his  sacred 
mission-hunger  that  made  him  at  once  an  Educa- 
tionalist, an  Agriculturalist,  a  Physician,  a  Captain 
of  Industries,  and  a  Statesman.  We  find  many  men 
in  him,  and  each  of  them  had  an  exuberant  vitality 
which  was  intensified  by  his  missionary  zeal.  He 
did  not  lay  only  one  line  of  rails  along  which  he  ran 
every  train. 

A  fervent  apostolic  Christianity  was  with  him  the 
one  condition  of  missionary  success.  His  deepest 
thoughts  are  revealed  in  such  words  as  these :  '  The 
religious  life  of  the  early  Christians  seems  to  have 
possessed  some  vitality  or  concentrated  spiritual 
power  that  helped  to  spread  Christianity,  possibly 
because  they  believed  intensely  what  they  knew. 
Whatever  it  was,  those  Christians  were  successful  as 
unofficial  missionaries.  ...  Its  force  and  expansive 
power  depended  at  first,  as  it  depends  still  on  its 
internal  condition — that  is,  on  its  spiritual  life.  .  .  . 
Rightly  enough  we  say  to  the  Missionary — spiritual 
work  requires  a  spiritual  man.  The  Church  itself 
may  need  reminding  that  spiritual  enterprises  re- 
quire spiritual  conditions  of  the  very  highest  force, 
and  while  the  latter  are  wanting,  the  success  desired 
may  also  be  wanting.' 

An  essential  article  in  his  creed  was  the  salvability 
of  the  pagan,  and  the  correspondence  of  the  Gospel 
with  the  deepest  needs  of  all  men.     At  the  worst, 


1 68  STEWART  OF  LOVED  ALE 

the  native  was  a  debased  immortal,  recoverable,  and 
worth  saving,^  as  Christ  had  conferred  a  wonderful 
dignity  upon  him.  It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that 
nearly  every  avowal  of  Stewart's  faith  in  his  numer- 
ous writings  has  this  missionary  application.  For 
the  missionary  idea  was  not  an  inference  from  his 
faith,  but  a  piece  of  its  essence.  It  resided  in  the 
very  marrow  of  his  divinity:  it  was  the  whole 
Christian  life  at  its  best  and  in  action  among  the 
neediest.  He  held  with  Henry  Martin  that  'the 
spirit  of  Christ  is  the  spirit  of  missions,'  and  that  it 
is  the  mission  of  the  whole  Church  to  give  the  Gospel 
to  the  whole  world.  The  report  of  his  speech  at 
the  General  Assembly  of  1878  runs:  'He  hoped  to 
return  to  Africa  shortly.  He  went  because  he 
believed  in  the  soundness  of  prosecuting  missions  in 
Africa.  He  went  heartily,  because,  despite  of  all 
doubts  on  the  part  of  outsiders,  and  despite  all  the 
discredit  attempted  to  be  thrown  on  the  cause  as 
not  having  produced  results,  he  still  believed  that 
there  were  great  results.  He  believed  with  all  his 
heart  in  the  power  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  to 
raise  men  everywhere,  and  certainly  to  raise  Africans 
to  light  and  liberty,  to  purity  and  truth.  In  presence 
of  the  heathen  he  felt  like  a  great  sculptor  when  he 
said  to  a  block  of  marble,  "  What  a  godlike  beauty 
thou  hidest ! "  He  thought  that  the  hope  of  the 
world  lay  in  the  ultimate  triumph  of  Christ's  Gospel. 

^  Dr.  Moffat  tells  that  he  was  once  asked  to  conduct  worship  in  a 
Boer  family.  He  suggested  that  the  Kafir  servants  should  be  brought 
in.  *  Oh,'  said  the  farmer,  '  let  us  bring  in  also  the  baboons  and  the 
dogs.'  Moffat  read  the  words  of  the  Syro-Phenician  woman  in 
Matthew  xv.  27,  '  Truth,  Lord,  yet  the  dogs  eat  of  the  crumbs  which 
fall  from  their  master's  table.'  'Wait,'  said  the  farmer,  'and  I'll 
bring  in  all  my  Kafirs.'  At  the  close  the  farmer  said,  '  You  took  a 
hard  hammer,  and  you  have  broken  a  hard  heart.' 


SYMPATHY  WITH  THE  NATIVES  169 

He  believed,  of  course,  in  many  other  forces  and 
factors  in  human  progress,  but  in  that  most  of  all, 
because  it  alone  transformed  the  whole  man.  If  our 
modern  civilisation  was  teaching  us  any  lesson  at 
all,  it  was  teaching,  as  plainly  as  experience  could, 
that  the  progress  of  science,  the  advancement  of  the 
material  arts,  and  the  spread  of  education,  were  all 
of  themselves  insufficient  to  satisfy  man's  heart — 
restless  and  insatiable  as  the  sea  itself.  The  plainest 
and  saddest  fact  of  the  present  day,  as  the  result  of 
our  justly  boasted  nineteenth-century  civilisation, 
was  this,  that  individual  happiness  was  not  keeping 
pace  with  modern  progress.  It  never  would,  and 
never  could,  till  Christ  with  His  great  peace  came  to 
take  possession  of  the  individual  heart.' 

We  find  in  him  that  keen  and  unfailing  sytnpathy 
with  the  natives  which  enables  the  missionary  to 
find  out  the  passes  and  avenues  to  the  soul.  One 
writer  says  that  Lord  Milner,  after  a  few  days  spent 
at  Lovedale,  told  him  that  Dr.  Stewart  was  'the 
biggest  human  in  South  Africa.'  Probably  the  say- 
ing was  meant  to  describe  both  Stewart's  head  and 
heart.  In  Dawn  in  the  Dark  Continent  he  thus 
reveals  his  attitude  to  the  native :  *  The  plight, 
mentally  and  spiritually,  of  those  living  under  pagan- 
ism should  appeal  to  our  human  as  well  as  our 
Christian  sympathy.  Pity  is  not  a  primary  mission- 
ary motive  of  the  highest  class,  but  it  can  well  be 
joined  to  the  highest  motive,  loyalty  and  love  to 
Jesus  Christ.  Let  me  speak  of  the  pagan  rather 
than  of  paganism,  so  that  we  may  pity  rather  than 
despise,  condemn,  or  neglect  him  in  his  misery.  The 
pagan  is  a  man  like  ourselves.  He  has  a  conscience, 
and  recognises,  though  on  a  lower  plane  and  a 
narrower  area    and  with   much   more   confusion  of 


I70  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

thought,  many  distinctions  between  right  and  wrong 
which  are  acknowledged  by  us.  He  has  a  strong 
impression  of  an  unseen  and  supernatural  world 
close  by.  He  has  also  impressions  of  the  mystery 
of  life,  and  the  belief  that  there  is  something  amiss 
both  with  the  world  and  with  himself,  though  he 
may  not  shape  his  thought  into  the  words  we  use. 
He  has  also  the  belief  in,  and  fear  of,  some  power 
that  is  neither  the  power  of  man  nor  of  nature,  but 
something  greater  than  either  or  both. 

'  We  mistake  altogether  if  we  suppose  that  our 
fellow-men,  whom  we  roughly  classify  by  the  hun- 
dred million  as  pagans  or  heathens,  have  no  such 
impressions.  As  life  advances  such  thoughts  come. 
When  young,  these  thoughts  did  not  trouble  him  ; 
but  later,  he  who  was  born  in  paganism,  and  has 
lived  all  his  days  in  it,  having  nowhere  else  to  go, 
becomes  a  melancholy  man,  and  an  object  deserving 
our  profoundest  pity.  He  is  in  darkness ;  wants 
light  and  cannot  get  it ;  and  tries  to  kindle  a  light 
of  his  own,  even  if  it  be  the  baleful  light  of  pagan- 
ism. He  feels  that  wrong  has  been  done,  that 
propitiation  must  be  made ;  and  the  transition  to 
sacrifices  of  the  most  revolting  kind  is  inevitable, 
easily  explicable,  and  so  far  logical' 

Like  Paul  at  Athens,  Stewart  admitted  their  good, 
and  offered  them  better,  the  best  of  all.  '  There  is  a 
way,'  he  writes,  '  of  approaching  false  religions  with- 
out raising  needless  antagonism.  Paul  knew  this 
when  he  spoke  to  the  men  at  Athens.' 

'For  the  coloured  men  and  women  of  Africa,' 
writes  one  of  his  colleagues,  'he  had  a  warmth  of 
regard  that  no  disappointments,  big  or  little,  sharp 
or  lasting,  could  lessen.'  Another  writes  :  *  It  may 
be  safely  said  that  in  native  eyes  Lovedale  stands 


SUCCESSFUL  EVANGELISM  171 

alone,  and  that  Dr.  Stewart  in  his  old  age  is 
regarded  with  an  afifectionate  awe  which  no  other 
personality  in  South  Africa  commands.  Their  hearts 
went  out  to  him  in  simple  faith  and  trust  as  they 
have  never  gone  to  another  man.  He  was  their 
"  father  "  in  all  the  profound  and  gracious  meanings 
of  the  word.' 

He  was  an  evangelistic  missionary.  Though  natur- 
ally conservative,  he  was  unconventional,  and  he 
warmly  welcomed  all  the  new  methods  of  evangel- 
ism. He  was  careful  not  to  be  occupied  too  much 
with  the  instrument — truth — and  too  little  with  the 
end — conversion.  Special  evangelistic  missions  had 
a  prominent  place  in  his  programme. 

Lovedale  has  witnessed  several  revivals  among 
the  pupils,  and  no  one  rejoiced  in  them  more  than 
the  Principal.  Many  of  his  best  native  helpers  were 
the  Fits  du  Reveil.  After  conducting  two  or  three 
services  on  the  Lord's  Day,  he  would  gladly  spend 
a  half-hour  with  some  poor  Kafir  boy  or  girl,  point- 
ing out  to  them  the  way  of  life  and  praying  with 
them.  I  well  remember  the  eagerness  with  which 
near  his  end  he  inquired  about  the  Welsh  revival, 
and  expressed  his  regret  that  he  could  not  attend 
an  address  upon  it. 

In  an  address  in  London  on  Lovedale  he  said  : 
*  No  year  passes  without  some  giving  signs  of  having 
been  the  subjects  of  the  great  change,  but  the  year 
1874  was  the  most  remarkable  in  the  whole  history 
of  Lovedale ;  and  though  some  went  back,  many 
or  most  remained  firm  to  their  profession.  About 
that  time  a  hundred  professed  anxiety,  though  it 
would  be  unwise  to  say  there  were  as  many  con- 
versions.' Concerning  this  work  he  wrote  to  Mrs. 
Stewart:   'I   cannot  tell  you    how  delighted   I   nm 


172  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

with  the  news  from  Lovedale  about  the  revival 
there.  That  is  the  crown  of  all  success.  There  is 
no  reason  why  this  movement  should  not  go  on,  and 
the  simplest  means  is  always  the  best.  Why  should 
a  revival  stop  so  long  as  there  are  unconverted  souls 
about  Lovedale?  We  must  seek  for  more  blessing 
still.  Our  old  ideas  on  the  subject  are  that,  after 
a  very  short  time,  the  meetings  and  other  means 
should  be  discontinued.  At  home  this  time  they 
have  followed  a  different  plan,  and  I  think  with 
good  success.' 

When  the  call  was  made  for  native  agents  for 
Central  Africa,  fourteen  volunteered ;  and  on  this 
becoming  known,  a  somewhat  shrewd  missionary 
living  at  a  distance  remarked  :  '  I  now  believe  in  the 
Lovedale  revival.     I  did  not  before.' 

He  disliked  everything  sensational  in  revivals, 
and  that  craving  for  confident  spiritual  statistics 
which  seems  to  anticipate  the  decisions  of  the  great 
day.  He  agreed  with  Moody,  who,  when  asked  how 
many  converts  he  had  made,  replied :  '  The  Lord 
will  count  up  the  people.  The  Lamb's  book  of  life 
is  not  in  my  keeping.' 

An  evangelistic  atmosphere  pervaded  Lovedale, 
and  all  in  it  felt  that  the  chief  end  of  the  Institution 
was  to  bring  the  pupils  to  a  known  and  whole- 
hearted decision  for  Christ.  '  Hence,'  one  of  his 
colleagues  writes,  '  his  feeling  of  responsibility  for 
ensuring  that  no  student  should  drift  through  Love- 
dale without  having  the  claims  of  Christ  definitely 
and  personally  brought  before  him.  The  earnest 
words  he  spoke  to  individual  students  on  these  sub- 
jects v/ere  sometimes  few,  but  they  left  a  deep 
impression.' 

He    was    well    aware   that   the    native's   religious 


CHRISTIAN  ETHICS  173 

feelings  were  apt  to  be  a  reflection  of  the  teacher's 
personaHty  in  the  mirror  of  the  native  mind,  and 
that,  as  in  the  early  Church,  sincere  converts  might 
easily  carry  remnants  of  their  heathen  ideas  and 
habits  into  their  Christian  life.  He  never  forgot 
that  the  African  convert  is  often  strong  on  the 
emotional,  and  weak  on  the  ethical  side. 

Their  rightful  place  was  always  given  to  the 
everyday  duties  of  life,  and  the  pupils  were  warned 
against  outbursts  of  barren  emotion  with  their  con- 
sequent relapses  into  indifference  or  disgust.  They 
all  knew  that  the  supreme  place  was  given  to  moral 
and  spiritual  character  as  the  only  guarantee  to  any 
real  progress,  and  that  the  chief  aim  of  the  Institu- 
tion was  to  be  a  nursery  for  the  evangelisation  of 
Interior  Africa.  It  was  his  theory  that  all  missions 
are  really  one,  and  that  all  home  and  foreign 
missions  are  home  to  the  Christian  mind,  while  both 
are  foreign  to  the  secular ;  and  that  interest  in  the 
heathen  quickens  the  sense  of  need  nearer  home. 
He  wrote:  '  If  I  were  not  at  work  abroad,  I  should 
work  among  the  neglected  poor  in  the  lanes  of 
Glasgow.  I  often  said  so  when  I  was  at  home  two 
years  ago.'  He  identified  himself  closely  with  the 
Wynd  Mission  in  Glasgow,  regarding  it  as  an 
example  of  what  he  wished  to  do  with  Lovedale, 
and  many  of  the  agents,  especially  for  Livingstonia, 
were  drawn  from  the  Wynd  churches. 

Mr,  D.  A.  Hunter,  who  has  been  for  many  years 
an  honorary  missionary  at  Lovedale,  writes : — 

'•March  1908. 
'  Those  who  were  accustomed  to  meet  Dr.  Stewart 
only  during  business  hours  may  have  been  tempted 
to  conclude  that  the  business  management  of  Love- 


174  STEWART  OF  LOVE  DALE 

dale  bulked  so  largely  with  him  as  to  relegate  its 
more  directly  spiritual  aims  to  a  secondary  place  in 
his  thoughts  and  endeavour.  The  daily  correspond- 
ence of  Lovedale  is  alone  almost  one  man's  work, 
and  Dr.  Stewart  was  never  one  to  devolve  on  others 
that  or  any  other  portion  of  his  work. 

'With  superficial  evangelism,  which  appealed  to 
transient  emotions  and  ended  in  profession  without 
a  corresponding  practice,  he  had  little  patience. 
Experience  had  shown  him  how  hurtful  it  might 
be  to  true  religion.  But  he  believed  most  firmly 
in  sound  conversion  ;  he  was  eager  that  spiritual 
impressions  should  be  followed  up ;  and  he  rejoiced 
when  souls  were  being  born  again,  and  were  begin- 
ning to  show  signs  of  the  growth  of  the  divine  life 
within. 

'Very  early  in  the  history  of  Lovedale,  the  senior 
pupils  were  taught  to  go  out  to  the  surrounding 
villages  and  kraals  and  pass  on  to  others  the  truths 
they  were  themselves  receiving.^  Reports  of  such 
work  appear  at  least  as  early  as  1873. 

'  It  has  been  a  custom  to  have  twice  in  the  year  a 
week  of  evangelistic  services  at  which  an  effort  was 
made  to  bring  to  decision  those  who  had  been  under 
systematic  instruction  in  the  truths  of  our  faith. 
Dr.  Stewart  was  eager  that  any  impressions  made 
at  such  services  should  be  followed  up  by  wise 
personal  dealing. 

'  One  of  the  hardest  workers  of  his  time,  to  whom 
it  had  been  given  to  accomplish  much  towards  the 
uplift  of  Africa  and  the  establishment  of  God's 
kingdom   on   this   continent,  his   entire   confidence 


^  Dr.  Stewart  used  to  meet  with  them  on  the  Saturday  evenings 
and  study  with  them  the  subject  for  their  addresses. 


THE  SPIRITUAL  ATMOSPHERE  175 

seemed  to  rest  on  the  work  of  Another.     His  attitude 
of  faith  and  heart  was  : 

' "  Nothing  in  my  hands  I  bring, 
Simply  to  Thy  cross  I  cling."' 

In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Hunter  in  1902,  Stewart  writes 
regarding  a  special  mission  in  the  Institution  : — 
'  Mrs.  Stewart  mentions  that  about  one  hundred  and 
twenty  of  the  lads,  and  as  many  girls,  have  been  in- 
fluenced by  the  movement.  It  is  the  best  news  that 
has  come  from  Lovedale  for  twenty  years,  and  I 
sincerely  hope  that  a  steady  effort  will  be  made  to 
follow  up  what  has  been  done,  and  that  the  spiritual 
atmosphere  of  the  place  will  be  greatly  improved 
thereby, 

'When  I  turn  over  the  pages  of  Lovedale,  Past 
and  Present,  my  hands  sometimes  tremble,  but  only 
with  this  thought — whether  with  all  these  human 
souls  that  have  passed  through  our  hands,  we  have 
done  all  we  should  have  done  for  their  spiritual 
welfare,  and  whether  many,  by  more  individual  deal- 
ing and  more  direct  effort,  might  not  have  gone  out 
from  the  place  with  an  intenser  spiritual  life,  to  be  a 
blessing  to  their  countrymen  whether  as  evangelists 
and  missionaries  or  in  some  other  capacity. 

'  Like  the  man  recorded  in  the  Book  of  Kings  who 
was  busy  with  this  and  that,  and  let  his  prisoner 
escape,  we  may  have  been  busy  with  many  things 
and  let  souls  escape  with  less  good  than  God  meant 
they  should  have  got,  by  sending  them  in  His 
providence  to  us. 

*  I  think  you  could  find  a  splendid  field  of  work 
at  Lovedale.  It  may  not  be  exactly  what  you 
thought  of,  but  I  have  noticed  that  when  we  take 
tasks  or  duties  of  an  ordinary  kind  which  God  in 


176  STEWART  OF  LOVED  ALE 

His  providence  seems  to  offer  us,  He  very  soon  after 
begins  to  widen  these  into  spheres  of  work  of  which 
we  little  dreamt' 

His  zeal  seems  never  to  have  been  chilled  by  the 
secularities  and  distractions  inseparable  from  the 
management  of  so  great  an  institution.  There  were 
always  alongside  of  him  the  grossest  and  earthliest 
types  of  humanity,  but  he  could  see  the  beautiful 
statue  in  the  unhewn  block,  and  recognise  God's 
image  as  readily  in  ebony  as  in  ivory.  It  was  natural 
for  him  to  honour  all  men,  and  he  bestowed  upon 
the  natives  the  highest  possible  honour  by  devoting 
his  life  to  them.  Everything  about  Lovedale  was 
fitted  to  rescue  the  pupils  from  their  self-despisings, 
and  from  the  despisings  of  others,  and  to  inspire 
them  with  great  hopes.  In  his  later  years  he  had 
many  things  fitted  to  chill  his  zeal,  but,  like  the  great 
Apostle,  his  spirit  was  not  soured  by  unhappy  experi- 
ences. Men  can  do  well  only  what  they  can  do  with 
joy,  and  this  rule  finds  its  supreme  illustration  in 
missions. 

He  could  not  endure  the  idea  that  missionaries 
were  to  be  pitied  for  the  sacrifices  they  made.  A 
member  of  his  staff  says  :  *  One  incident  will  live  in 
my  memory  for  all  time.  It  occurred  in  the  course 
of  a  brief  address  he  gave  once  at  the  weekly  staff 
prayer-meeting  in  the  large  hall  at  Lovedale.  Some- 
thing that  he  had  heard  or  read  moved  him  to  speak 
of  the  so-called  sacrifices  which  men  made  when 
entering  the  mission-field.  He  flamed  up  at  the 
idea,  and  spoke  with  a  burning  torrent  of  words 
which  showed  us — just  for  a  moment — the  liquid 
fires  of  devotion  which  he  hid  behind  his  reserve. 
As  I  write  I  can  see,  as  though  it  were  yesterday, 
that  tall  form  swaying  with  noble  passion.     Sacri- 


GREAT  SACRIFICES  177 

fice !  What  man  or  woman  could  speak  of  sacrifice 
in  the  face  of  Calvary  ?  What  happiness  or  ambition 
or  refinement  had  any  one  "  given  up  "  in  the  service 
of  humanity  to  compare  with  the  great  sacrifice  of 
Him  who  "  emptied  Himself  and  .  .  .  took  upon 
Himself  the  form  of  a  servant?"  It  made  some  of 
us  feel  rather  ashamed  of  our  heroics,  for  we  knew 
that  if  ever  a  man  since  Livingstone  had  a  right  to 
speak  like  that,  it  was  Dr.  Stewart.' 

In  the  same  spirit  James  Chalmers  of  New 
Guinea  said  ;  '  I  do  hope  that  we  shall  for  ever  wipe 
the  word  sacrifice  as  concerning  what  we  do,  from 
the  missionary  speech  of  New  Guinea.  Wherever 
there  are  men  the  missionaries  are  bound  to  go.' 

On  a  great  occasion  at  Washington,  Stewart  said  : 
'  The  present  problem  of  missions  is  how  to  rouse 
the  Christian  Church,  ministers,  members,  and 
adherents  to  a  sense  of  the  magnitude  of  the  work 
on  hand,  and  of  the  individual  responsibility  of  each 
and  all  within  the  Church  in  connection  therewith. 
The  means  by  which  this  better  condition  of  the 
Church  for  its  work  abroad  may  be  reached,  seem 
to  be  in  the  direction  of  a  deepened  individual 
spiritual  interest  in  the  state  of  the  heathen  world. 
That  means  for  ourselves  individually  more  spiritual 
life,  with  further  organisation  and  more  ample 
support  morally,  if  not  materially  at  first,  to  the 
toiling  Secretaries  and  Boards  who  do  the  adminis- 
trative work  ;  and  a  greater  unity  of  action  among 
the  churches  of  any  one  denomination,  so  as  to  save 
money,  prevent  dissipation  of  effort  and  strength, 
and  secure  the  power  and  momentum  of  combined 
effort.' 

It  would  be  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  he  loved 
to  roam.     In  a  letter  from  Scotland  to  Mrs.  Stewart 

M 


178  STEWART  OF  LOVED  ALE 

he  says :  '  Perhaps  I  am  yielding  to  my  weakness 
of  settling  down,  as  you  know  I  am  apt  to  do  when 
I  get  a  chance.  If  so,  this  should  give  you  a  further 
revelation  as  to  my  real  disposition,  and  that  it  is 
not  with  my  will  entirely  that  I  have  moved  about 
so  much  or  may  move  about  more.  I  require  to 
be  shot  out  like  a  shell  from  a  mortar.' 

In  a  letter  from  Livingstonia  to  Mrs.  Stewart,  who 
had  not  heard  from  him  for  several  weeks,  he  says : 
'  It  is  part  of  all  true  missionary  work  that  it  shall 
stir  and  dig  and  turn  the  spirit's  soil,  and  out  of  all 
this  comes  more  power  for  endurance,  and  wider 
ideas  of  work  and  effort.  Still,  for  all  that,  I  am 
truly  sorry  lest  your  health  may  have  suffered.' 

Here  is  an  extract  of  a  Minute  of  the  Kafrarian 
Synod,  of  which  Dr.  Stewart  was  a  member : — 

'■July  1906. 

'  Great  in  heart  and  mind,  it  was  not  possible  for 
him  to  confine  his  energy  to  one  Church  or  one 
Institution.  Accordingly  he  became  associated  with 
mission-work  generally,  and  did  much  to  bring 
about  friendly  relations  between  the  representatives 
of  different  denominations,  and  to  exhibit  mission- 
work  in  the  eyes  of  the  natives  as  one  work.  He 
came  to  be  regarded  by  statesmen  and  missionaries, 
as  well  as  by  the  native  people,  as  the  chief  repre- 
sentative of  the  Mission  Cause  in  South  Africa. 

'  Gifted  with  rare  foresight,  caution,  and  daring, 
he  gave  stability  and  solidity  to  all  he  undertook, 
and  assisted  largely  in  moulding  the  policy  of  the 
Church  on  wise  and  sound  lines.' 


CHAPTER    XVIII 

PREACHER   AND   PASTOR 

At  Alice— The  Preacher's  Matter— Style— Spirit— The  Fruits 
— The  Rev.  J.  Knox  Bokwe — The  Soul-Friend. 

'  Theologus  nascitur  in   Scripturis '   (The   theologian   is   born   in   the 
Scriptures). — Francke  s  Motto. 

'  A  true  sermon  has  the  heaven   for  its  father,  and  the  earth  for  its 
mother.' — Thohick. 

Preaching  bulked  so  largely  in  Stewart's  life, 
that  it  deserves  a  chapter  for  itself,  in  addition  to 
what  has  been  said  about  his  probationership  in 
Chapter  IV. 

Some  men  have  regarded  their  ordination  for  the 
foreign  field  as  a  reason  why  they  should  devote 
their  energies  only  or  chiefly  to  the  heathen.  To 
Stewart  all  Christian  work  was  mission-work,  and 
all  mission-work  was  one.  He  was  always  ready 
to  preach  when  able  to  do  so.  His  genuine  love  of 
preaching  was  very  remarkable  in  a  man  who  was 
so  overburdened  with  other  duties.  Several  con- 
tributors to  the  memorial  number  of  the  Christian 
Express  describe  his  services  in  the  pulpit. 

'  For  nearly  twenty  years  he  was  minister  of  the 
Alice  Presbyterian  church,  when  that  congregation 
was  not  able  to  call  a  minister  of  their  own.  This 
work  he  did  without  remuneration  of  any  kind,  and 
he  preached  regularly  without  a  single  break.' 

170 


i8o  STEWART  OF  LOVED  ALE 

'  The  preparation  of  two  sermons  for  each  Sabbath 
day  must  have  cost  the  already  over-burdened 
missionary  no  small  labour,  yet  no  one  ever  heard 
him  complain  of  the  task  he  had  undertaken.  He 
preached  in  Alice  in  the  forenoon  and  in  Lovedale 
in  the  evening. 

'  For  years  he  preached  three  sermons  a  week. 
In  the  seventies  and  eighties  his  pulpit  ministra- 
tions were  very  impressive,  and  large  congregations 
gathered  whenever  it  was  known  that  he  was  to 
preach. 

*  If  you  saw  the  men  from  the  outlying  farms 
muster  in  force,  you  might  be  sure  the  doctor  was 
going  to  preach,  for  he  was  pre-eminently  the  kind 
of  virile  preacher  that  men  as  men  gladly  listen 
to.' 

We  may  get  a  little  nearer  the  preacher  by  noting 
some  of  the  leading  features  of  his  preaching.  His 
matter  was  thoroughly  Biblical.  An  Evangelical 
of  the  Evangelicals,  he  kept  close  to  the  central 
doctrines  and  the  great  roots  of  the  Christian  faith, 
and  he  never  grew  tired  of  the  simplicity  that  is  in 
Christ.  So  far  as  we  can  learn,  he  was  not  one  of 
those  who  win  faith  out  of  doubt.  Even  in  his 
student  days  he  seems  not  to  have  cultivated  bridge- 
building  between  faith  and  unbelief.  As  he  felt 
called  to  spend  his  life  in  the  white  harvest-field, 
not  in  the  arena  of  controversy,  his  intensely 
practical  turn  of  mind  disposed  him  to  husband  all 
his  energies  for  his  chosen  work.  His  study  of  the 
Bible  and  his  spiritual  experience  gave  him  a  full 
assurance  of  the  truth  of  our  religion,  and  he  deemed 
him  an  effective  defender  of  the  faith  who  was  an 
extender  of  it  among  the  heathen.  In  this  he 
agreed  with  Livingstone,  who   said   shortly  before 


THE  DEATH-WARRANT  OF  DOUBT       i8i 

his  death,  '  The  spirit  of  missions  is  the  spirit  of 
our  Master,  the  very  genius  of  His  religion.  A 
diffusive  philanthropy  is  Christianity  itself.  It 
requires  perpetual  propagation  to  attest  its  genuine- 
ness.' Both  Livingstone  and  Stewart  would  have 
agreed  with  a  learned  Hindoo,  who  said  to  one  of 
our  missionaries,  '  If  I  were  a  missionary  I  would 
not  argue.  I  would  give  them  the  New  Testament 
and  say  "  Read  that." ' 

Many  great  Christians  have  ignored  religious  con- 
troversies as  Stewart  did.  The  first  Earl  Cairns, 
once  fully  assured  of  the  truth  of  Christianity,  never 
afterwards  handled  it  critically.  Faraday  says, 
'There  is  no  philosophy  in  my  religion.  I  hope 
none  of  my  hearers  will  in  these  matters  listen  to 
the  thing  called  philosophy.  That  which  is  religious 
and  that  which  is  philosophical  have  ever  been  two 
distinct  things.'  His  biographer  adds,  '  When  he 
opened  the  door  of  his  oratory,  he  closed  the  door  of 
his  laboratory.'  And  John  Morley  says  of  Gladstone, 
'  The  fundamentals  of  Christian  dogma  are  the  only 
region  in  which  Mr.  Gladstone's  opinions  have  no 
history'  (i.  207).  He  had  applied  the  closure  to 
the  discussion  of  the  fundamentals.  These  great 
thinkers,  if  cross-questioned,  would,  no  doubt,  have 
fully  acknowledged  the  claims  of  true  philosophy 
and  the  value  of  reasoned  defences  of  the  faith, 
while  they  also  believed  that  their  individuality  and 
God-given  work  had  beckoned  them  into  other 
spheres  of  Christian  activity.  Their  example  re- 
minds us  that  the  Christian  faith  reposes  upon  an 
adequate  foundation  of  its  own,  and  that  it  does 
not  need  to  borrow  support  from  science  or 
philosophy. 

Happy  they  who  in  an  age  like  this  can  preserve 


1 82  STEWART  OF  LOVED  ALE 

unclouded  serenity  of  mind,  and  invest  at  once  in 
fruitful  work  all  their  capital  of  faith. 

Stewart  skirted  without  crossing  the  Karoo  and 
great  Thirst- Land  of  unbelief.  We  may  be  sure  that 
this  was  not  due  to  sloth  of  mind,  and  that  his 
orthodoxy  was  not  truth  at  second-hand.  Few 
intellects  were  more  alert  than  his.  But  he  converted 
doctrine  into  action,  and  action  is  usually  the  death- 
warrant  of  doubt  about  the  fundamentals.  From 
the  first  he  wished  his  conviction  to  be  attached  to 
the  great  driving-wheels  of  modern  life. 

His  belief  was  that '  life  and  religion  are  one  thing, 
or  neither  is  anything.'  He  had  thus  scanty  respect 
for  those  who  are  chiefly  interested  in  the  intellectual 
side  of  Christianity.  One  evening  a  friend  was 
speaking  of  this  class.  '  Have  you  ever  seen  a  pig 
eating  plums  ? '  Stewart  asked  (an  African  experi- 
ence, we  suppose).  '  You  know,  it  takes  the  plum 
into  its  mouth,  and  squeezes  it.  The  juice  squirts 
out  on  each  side,  and  the  pig  crunches  the  stone.' 

The  Style. — It  was  simple,  direct,  and  very  plain, 
and  in  entire  harmony  with  the  man  behind  the 
sermons.  He  was  unconventional — never  wearing 
clerical  dress,  except  in  the  pulpit  and  on  special 
occasions.  '  His  reading  of  Scripture  was  very 
striking,  and  many  are  of  opinion  that  he  was  most 
powerful  and  original  in  the  brief  remarks  he  often 
made  on  the  passage  read.'  His  voice  had  a  fine 
musical  timbre,  unlike  that  of  any  other  man,  and  in 
his  best  moods  he  was  a  master  of  accent  in  speech. 
It  was  always  the  accent  of  deep  conviction.  The 
texts  were  short  and  very  practical,  and  he  was  free 
from  mannerisms  and  a  pulpit  tone.  He  was  not 
eloquent  in  the  ordinary  sense.  He  had  passion  in 
his  thoughts,  but  not  the  passion  that  creates  a  gush 


THE  PASTORAL  HEART  183 

and  flow  of  exciting  words,  and  thus  he  seldom  *  let 
himself  go.'  Sometimes  his  speech  was  disjointed. 
Now  and  again  his  sentences  were  like  pistol-shots, 
after  which  he  paused  as  if  to  see  whether  they  had 
reached  the  mark.  His  temperament  and  style  were 
those  of  a  teacher  rather  than  of  a  preacher. 

'  My  first  meeting  with  Dr.  Stewart,'  writes  one  of 
his  colleagues/ was  at  Port  Elizabeth  in  1878.  He 
had  just  arrived  from  Central  Africa,  and  was  on  his 
way  to  Lovedale.  Though  suffering  from  the  effects 
of  fever,  he  was  able  to  preach  in  the  Presbyterian 
church  next  day.  His  presence  in  the  pulpit  was 
always  very  striking,  and  to  us  on  this  occasion  it 
was  so  in  a  remarkable  degree.  With  an  impressive 
manner,  and  in  his  deep  and  rich  voice,  he  read  the 
first  chapter  of  Genesis,  with  an  effect  on  some  of  us 
that  was  almost  overwhelming.  Two,  at  any  rate, 
of  that  audience  will  never  forget  it.  He  took  as 
his  text  the  words  from  the  same  chapter,  "  And  God 
created  man  in  His  own  image."  The  sermon  was 
equally  impressive,  clear,  deliberate,  and  telling.' 

His  Spirit. — That  is  revealed  in  a  letter  written  in 
his  student  days  when  he  began  to  address  meetings. 
'  I  have  learnt  this  at  least,  that  to  preach  as  we 
ought  will  require  a  much  greater  cultivation  of 
acquaintance  with  Jesus  Christ  as  a  living  Person, 
than  I,  at  least,  have  been  in  the  habit  of  doing.' 

From  the  first  the  instinct  for  souls  was  strong  in 
him.  No  matter  how  busy  he  was,  he  had  always  a 
pastoral  heart  at  leisure  for  the  humblest.  As  God 
and  his  own  conscience  were  theatre  and  spectators 
enough,  he  knew  how  to  value  obscure  and  unnoticed 
services.  He  delighted  in  that  art  of  arts,  the 
management  of  solitary  individuals  seeking  spiritual 
guidance.     The    weal   of  a   single   soul    seemed    to 


i84  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

interest  him  as  deeply  as  the  boldest  of  his  enter- 
prises. In  this  he  imitated  his  Master,  nineteen  of 
whose  reported  addresses  were  delivered  to  an 
audience  of  one.  We  add  a  few  testimonies  from 
the  Christian  Express  : — 

'  His  ministry  to  the  sick  and  poor  during  those 
years  is  still  spoken  of.  No  matter  what  work  he  had 
on  hand,  the  moment  he  heard  of  distress,  or  sick- 
ness, or  death,  he  was  there  to  comfort  and  to  help. 
It  was  at  such  times  that  one  seemed  to  get  nearest 
to  Dr.  Stewart's  heart.  Sufifering  of  all  kinds  found 
in  him  a  willing  and  waiting  helper.' 

*  During  the  last  twenty  years  his  ministrations  to 
all  who  were  in  need — the  sick,  the  troubled,  the 
forlorn — never  failed  in  regularity  or  in  helpful- 
ness.' 

'  Even  after  he  was  relieved  of  the  duties  of  pastor, 
he  continued  to  visit  the  sick  and  the  bereaved. 
Those  visits  were  always  welcome,  and  on  such 
occasions  the  tenderness  and  sympathy  of  the  man 
percolated  through.' 

The  kirk-session  of  the  Presbyterian  church  at 
Alice  adopted  the  following  resolution  after  his 
death.  '  For  almost  twenty  years,  as  sole  or  chief 
pastor,  he  gave  to  it  all  that  a  faithful  minister  could 
give  of  thought,  teaching,  and  sympathy,  and  for 
twenty  subsequent  years,  under  the  pressure  of  many 
and  various  labours  and  anxieties,  his  care  of  its 
people  never  ceased,  so  that  down  to  his  last  day  of 
strength  he  never  failed  to  visit  or  succour  the  sick, 
the  dying,  or  the  bereaved.  His  memory,  his 
wisdom,  his  loving  ministry,  are  esteemed  in  many 
hearts,  and  can  never  be  forgotten.' 

The  Fruits. — These  must  have  been  numerous,  for 
often  his  arrow  found  its  mark.     The  power  of  his 


A  KAFIR  CONVERT  185 

sermons  was  largely  in  his  unique  personality.  One 
who  heard  him  often,  wrote  :  '  It  is  to  be  hoped  that 
some  of  his  sermons  will  take  to  themselves  a  per- 
manent form.  Nay,  they  have  already  a  permanent 
and  abiding  form  in  the  hearts  of  many  hearers. 
His  were  the  words  that  remained  ;  time  seemed 
to  be  powerless  to  deal  with  them.  We  have  met 
men  who  thus  speak   of  Dr.   Stewart :  "  I   first  saw 

him  in .     He  preached  then  from  the  text . 

I  shall  never  forget,  so  long  as  life  lasts,  his  sermons." 
These  are  not  single  instances.  Neither  was  the 
effect  of  his  preaching  confined  to  any  particular 
class  of  men.  He  reached  all  classes,  all  conditions, 
for  he  preached  the  pure  Gospel  of  our  Lord.  And 
thus  to  the  unlettered  native  his  message  was  as 
acceptable  and  as  helpful  as  it  was  to  the  most 
learned  of  men.' 

The  Rev.  John  Knox  Bokwe,  who  was  his  private 
secretary  for  twenty  years,  writes  :  '  One  day  in  the 
Alice  Presbyterian  church,  Dr.  Stewart  preached  on 
the  text,  "  The  harvest  is  past,  the  summer  is  ended, 
and  we  are  not  saved."  I  was  the  only  native 
African  in  the  congregation.  The  words  were  so 
simple  as  to  be  understood  by  an  uncouth  Kafir  lad 
of  twelve,  and  they  pierced  through  my  heart.  I  was 
overcome,  and  felt  that  there  and  then  I  must  seek 
the  way  of  salvation.  The  matter  did  not  end  with 
the  service.  Conversations  with  Dr.  Stewart  led  me 
to  an  understanding  of  the  way  of  life,  and  I  was 
admitted  to  the  membership  of  the  church.  No 
Christian  worker  at  Lovedale  took  more  pains  in 
winning  souls  to  Jesus  Christ,  or  less  credit  for  his 
help  in  such  cases.  I  can  testify  that  many  an 
African  youth  at  Lovedale  was  awakened  by  the 
power  of  Dr.  Stewart's  preaching,  encouraged  by  his 


? 


i86  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

prayers  and  advices  in  private,  and  guided  by  him 
into  the  way  of  salvation.' 

His  legal  adviser,  in  view  of  these  facts,  says : 
*  No  wonder  that  he  fitted  my  highest  conception 
of  what  a  man  and  a  Christian  should  be.' 

A  real  soul-friend,  he  knew  how  to  carry  the  oil 
of  gladness  into  the  house  of  mourning.  Very 
touching  testimony  is  borne  to  his  deep  sympathy 
with,  and  affectionate  devotion  to,  the  dying.  He 
was  gentle  among  them,  '  even  as  a  nurse  cherisheth 
her  children,'  and  he  convoyed  them  far  in  their 
journey  through  the  final  valley. 


CHAPTER    XIX 

THE    EDUCATIONALIST 

Pioneer  —  A  Great  Programme  —  Catholicity  —  Respect  for 
Woman  —  Handmaids  to  Education  —  A  Teacher  of 
Teachers — The  Chief  End — The  Rev.  James  Scott— H.  C. 
Sloley,  Esq. — Sir  Godfrey  Lagden — E.  B.  Sargent,  Esq. 

'  The  most  potent  force  in  the  religious  life  of  the  South  African  native 
has,  perhaps,  been  the  Scotch  Presbyterian  Mission,  which  has  always 
been  educational  in  its  character.' — Colquhoun  s  '  The  Africander  Land.' 

'  Education  is  an  atmosphere,  a  discipline,  and  a  life.' — Matthew  Arnold. 

'The  main  point  in  education  is  to  get  a  relish  of  knowledge.' — Osier's 
'  ^quanimitas. ' 

'  He  who  is  master  of  education  is  able  to  change  the  face  of  the  world. ' 
— Leibnitz. 

'  Education  without  religion  is  the  world's  expedient  for  converting 
farthings  into  guineas  by  scouring.' — The  Rev.  J.  Murker. 

Stewart   was   an    enthusiastic    pioneer   of   native 

education.      To  have  a  hand  in  fashioning  young 

lives,  was  exceedingly  attractive  to  him.     He  would 

not  despair  of  teaching   young   barbarians  among 

whom  education  was  unknown   and  despised,  and 

who  cared  only  for  their  animal  wants.     Living  in  a 

transition  period  between  the  old  and  the  new,  he 

adapted  his  methods    to  both,  and  of  the   new  he 

might  justly  have  said,  '  Quorum  pars  magna  fui.' 

He  had  a  sun-clear  idea  of  his  educational  aims. 

He  was  intensely  practical.     For  cram  and  goose- 
is? 


i88  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

quill  learning  he  never  had  any  respect.  The  pro- 
blem with  him  was  how  the  whole  pupil  could  be 
trained  for  the  whole  of  life,  for  God  and  man,  for 
earth  and  heaven.  In  an  address  to  the  Love- 
dale  Literary  Society  he  thus  defines  the  end  of 
education.  '  What  is  this  long,  costly  process  to 
produce  as  a  result?  This  may  be  answered  in 
one  brief  word — Action.  ...  A  man  is  educated 
when  he  is  fitted  for  the  position  he  is  intended 
by  the  Providence  of  God  to  fill.  .  .  .  Any  educa- 
tion which  is  not  practical  in  its  character  is  of 
no  real  value  to  you  at  your  present  stage  of 
civilisation.' 

His  intense  desire  to  serve  Christ  and  his  fellows 
rescued  him  from  that  '  malady  of  the  ideal '  which 
has  made  many  cultured  men  martyrs  of  disgust, 
and  spoiled  them  for  the  humble  tasks  of  daily  life. 
It  seemed  to  him  worth  his  while  to  take  the  greatest 
pains  with  the  rudest  pupils,  and  study  all  the  details 
of  school  life.  He  had  received  no  training  as  a 
teacher,  but  enthusiasm  and  experience  soon  made 
him  an  expert.  He  was  a  good  teacher  because  he 
was  a  learner  to  the  very  end,  and  took  pains  to  give 
his  pupils  water  from  a  running  stream,  and  not 
from  a  stagnant  pool.  He  carefully  examined  all 
methods  of  teaching,  and  he  visited  and  sampled 
more  than  twenty  educational  establishments  in 
America  among  the  Indians  and  freed  negroes. 
The  result  was  that  he  '  preferred  the  African 
material  to  work  upon.' 

John  Knox  Bokwe  thus  describes  Stewart's  aims  ; 
'  He  had  a  favourite  maxim  which  he  oft  repeated — 
"The  receiving  of  education  should  not  be  of  the 
nature  of  a  sponge  which  sucked  everything  for  itself, 
but   gave   nothing   out,   nor   should    it   resemble   a 


A  LIBERAL  EDUCATION  189 

bottomless  hicket  which  kept  nothing  in."  The 
sponge,  he  explained,  represented  selfishness,  the 
opposite  of  which  was  self-denial  and  self-sacrifice. 
He  was  so  fond  of  using  these  terms  that  his  pupils 
nicknamed  them  "the  doctor's  jaw-breakers."  To 
the  native  mind  these  ideas  were  new,  and  caused 
much  discussion  in  the  dormitories.' 

The  education  at  Lovedale  was  very  liberal^  for 
it  ranged  from  the  alphabet  to  theological  classes. 
The  aim  was  to  equip  the  boys  and  girls  for  every 
sphere  of  civilised  life.  The  programme  embraced 
'the  rudiments  of  education  for  all,  industrial  train- 
ing for  the  many,  and  a  higher  education  for  the 
talented  few.'  In  1905,  I  found  at  Lovedale  twenty- 
five  Europeans  on  the  Staff,  among  whom  were  four 
Masters  of  Arts,  who  represented  the  Universities  of 
Edinburgh,  Cambridge,  and  Dublin.  I  said  to  the 
pupils  that  they  had  better  opportunities  of  educa- 
tion than  I  had  had,  and  both  Dr.  Stewart  and 
Dr.  Roberts  made  a  similar  statement  regarding 
themselves.  Many  white  pupils  have  been  educated 
at  Lovedale,  and  not  a  few  of  them  now  occupy  very 
important  posts  in  South  Africa.  The  natives  and 
the  whites  have  the  same  education  within  their 
reach.  One  could  scarcely  imagine  a  more  impressive 
proof  of  respect  for  the  natives  and  faith  in  their 
elevation.  It  is  fitted  to  deliver  them  from  their 
self-despisings,  and  from  the  despisings  of  the  whites. 
I  saw  Stewart's  grandson  in  a  class  alongside  of 
Kafir  boys. 

The  musical  demonstrations  of  the  pupils  are  a 
surprise  to  the  visitor.  Some  of  the  better-off  pupils 
go  to  Alice  for  lessons  in  music  at  their  own  cost, 
and  some  can  play  well  on  the  piano.  Dudley  Kidd 
heard  one  of  the  pupils  playing  his  own   musical 


I90  STEWART  OF  LOVED  ALE 

compositions  on  the  piano.  '  They  were,'  he  adds, 
'  quite  up  to  the  level  of  our  drawing-room  songs. 
My  race-prejudice  certainly  received  a  well-merited 
rebuff  by  the  experience.'  He  admits  that  his  severe 
criticisms  of  the  Mission  Schools  do  not  apply  to 
Lovedale.  Had  he  been  as  prone  to  commend  as  to 
criticise,  he  might  have  said  that  all  the  methods  he 
advocates  have  been  employed  at  Lovedale  during 
the  last  forty  years.  '  The  African,'  Stewart  writes, 
'  is  fond  beyond  measure  of  music,  and  seems 
to  have  an  instinctive  knowledge  of  harmony,  and 
an  extraordinary  power  of  keeping  time.'  The 
Ethiopians  are  apt  to  be  smit  with  the  love  of 
sacred  song.  Among  them  music  is  a  potent  means 
of  civilisation,  and  even  of  grace.  '  Music  has  great 
influence  on  those  who  have  musical  ears,  and  often 
leads  to  conversion '  {Livingstone' s  Last  Journals, 
ii,  201). 

In  his  estimate  of  the  educational  power  of  music, 
Stewart  agreed  with  Plato,  who  said,  '  The  movement 
of  sound,  so  as  to  reach  the  soul  for  the  education  of 
it  in  virtue  (we  know  not  how),  we  call  music,  under 
which  the  soul  becomes  gentle  and  pliable  as  metal 
in  the  fire.'  '  Next  to  theology,  I  place  sacred  music,' 
wrote  Luther ;  and  in  his  day  the  people  sang  them- 
selves into  the  Lutheran  doctrine. 

Among  missions,  Lovedale  was  distinguished  by 
its  Catholicity.  The  pupils  were  of  all  colours,  white 
and  black,  brown  and  yellow,  with  numberless 
intermediate  hues.  '  The  education  at  Lovedale  is 
open  to  Europeans,'  Stewart  writes.  '  There  is  an 
average  of  twenty-five  or  thirty  who  come  from  a 
distance  and  board  in  the  place.  The  education 
given  is  the  attraction,  as  no  difference  is  made  in 
the  classes.     All  colours  mingle  freely  there,  as  force 


AN  INTERNATIONAL  ACADEMY  igi 

of  brain  rather  than  colour  of  skin  determines  the 
position.  The  natives  carry  off  their  own  share  of 
the  prizes.  The  Europeans  sit  in  the  same  dining- 
hall,  but  at  different  tables,  and  they  sleep  in  different 
dormitories.  The  objects  gained  by  thus  mixing  the 
two  races  are  these : — The  natives  have  the  advan- 
tage of  contact  with  Europeans  for  the  language  and 
general  competition.  And  many  of  the  Europeans, 
I  might  say  nearly  all,  gain  a  lasting  sympathy  with 
the  natives  and  acquire  an  interest  in  missions.  This 
is  important,  as  prejudices  between  missionaries  and 
colonists  are  unhappily  too  strong  in  some  cases. 
...  I  only  know  of  one  lad,  among  more  than  a 
thousand,  who  ever  complained  of  having  "  Presby- 
terianism  thrust  down  his  throat."  To  succeed  in 
doing  even  that  would  have  been  a  feat,  as  it  was 
extremely  difficult  to  thrust  or  insinuate  anything  of 
a  satisfactory  kind  into  his  head.' 

The  visitor  at  Lovedale  had  many  proofs  of  this 
catholicity.  In  one  of  the  senior  classes  the  Principal 
would  say, '  Will  the  boys  from  Rhodesia  stand  up  ? ' 
Two  or  three  would  rise.  He  would  then  call  up  the 
boys  from  Bechuanaland,  Fingoland,  Pondoland, 
Transvaal,  Basutoland,  Cape  Colony,  etc.  When  I 
was  there,  the  question  was  asked,  '  Are  there  any 
boys  here  who  have  not  yet  stood  up  ? '  Two 
responded.  '  Where  do  you  come  from  ?  '  '  From 
Madagascar,'  was  the  reply.  Lovedale  has  had 
pupils  from  Lake  Nyasa.  King  Lewanika  sent  two 
of  his  sons  to  Lovedale  (with  their  attendants)  last 
year,  and  wished  to  send  also  several  of  his  young 
men,  but  there  was  no  room  for  them.  Cobden  was 
called  '  the  international  man ' ;  Stewart  was  the 
international  missionary. 

Respect  for  women  was  one  of  the  greatest  lessons 


192  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

in  the  Institution.  Miss  (now  Dr.)  Jane  Waterston 
accompanied  Stewart  in  1867,  as  the  first  lady  Prin- 
cipal of  the  Girls'  Department.  '  One  special  point 
of  value  about  her  work  was  that  she  succeeded  in 
inspiring  the  girls  with  a  spirit  of  unselfishness  and 
activity,  and  of  attachment  to  the  place  and  the 
work.'  She  began  with  ten  girls.  Last  year  there 
were  two  hundred  and  four  girls  at  Lovedale,  and 
they  paid  in  fees  ^1235. 

Stewart  thus  describes  his  aims :  *  We  have  not 
taken  these  young  women  from  their  smoky  hovels 
to  spoil  them  with  over-indulgence,  or  nurse  them  into 
fastidious  dislike  of  their  future  fates.  In  the  matter 
of  food  they  abide  generally  by  the  simplicity  of 
their  native  fare.  .  .  .  And  as  regards  their  training, 
we  may  fairly  believe  that  great  good  will  come  out 
of  the  establishment  of  this  training-school  for  young 
women.  Cleanliness,  industry,  and  application  are 
some  of  the  lower  ends  of  the  Institution,  and  the 
more  common  virtues  which  the  inmates  practise 
while  they  remain  there,  the  training  of  their  hearts 
and  the  conversion  of  their  souls  to  God,  are  the 
higher  and  real  aims  of  the  place.' 

Miss  Waterston  adds :  '  The  aim  with  which  I 
started  was  not  to  turn  out  school-girls  but  women, 
and  with  that  aim  in  view  I  tried  to  give  the 
Institution  not  so  much  the  air  of  a  school  as  of  a 
pleasant  home.  I  reasoned  after  this  manner,  that 
homes  are  what  are  wanted  in  Africa,  and  that  the 
young  women  will  never  be  able  to  make  homes 
unless  they  understand  and  see  what  a  home  is. 
Another  principle  that  I  set  out  with  was,  that 
nothing  was  to  be  done  for  the  girls  that  they  could 
do  for  themselves,  and  that  there  was  to  be  as  little 
hired  help  as  possible.' 


A  SPLENDID  OBJECT-LESSON  193 

The  girls  learn  more  quickly  than  the  boys,  they 
work  harder,  do  better  work,  and  take  more  kindly 
to  civilised  ways.  The  visitor  can  scarcely  believe 
that  they  are  of  the  same  race  as  their  sisters  at  the 
Kraals. 

The  boys  had  ever  before  their  eyes  a  splendid 
object-lesson  on  the  difference  Christ  has  made  in 
the  position  of  woman,  and  in  man's  attitude 
to  her.  They  daily  saw  girls  who  were  as  carefully 
educated  as  themselves,  and  by  cultured  European 
ladies  who  loved  them  and  wished,  in  the  spirit  of 
Christ,  to  reinstate  the  native  woman  on  her  equal 
throne  with  the  man.  The  climate  round  the  boys 
was  fitted  to  melt  away  their  savage  contempt  for 
woman,  as  Arctic  icebergs  floating  south  are  dis- 
solved in  spring. 

Many  were  the  handmaids  to  education  created 
and  employed  at  the  Institution.  The  first  Kafir 
newspaper  was  printed  therein  1871.  The  Christian 
Express,  originally  the  Kafir  Express,  was  printed 
in  English  at  Lovedale,  and  entirely  by  the  pupils 
under  European  supervision.  It  powerfully  pled  the 
cause  of  natives  and  of  missions.  There  was  also 
another  newspaper  called  The  Lovedale  News.  The 
Lovedale  Literary  Society  was  very  popular,  and  a 
welcome  relaxation  from  school  tasks.  One  of  its 
aims  was  to  create  a  healthy  native  public  opinion 
on  all  important  questions.  The  addresses  of  Dr. 
Stewart  as  President  were  great  events  among  the 
pupils.  They  were  carefully  prepared  and  usually 
published  in  the  Christian  Express.  The  senior 
students  had  a  Botanical  class,  and  occasional 
Botanical  excursions.  They  were  taught  Chemistry, 
and  a  lecture  on  Electricity  led  to  the  establishment 
of  a  Telegraph  Office  at  Lovedale,  which  was  entirely 

N 


194  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

manipulated  by  natives.  They  had  also  a  good 
Library,  Reading-room,  and  Book-store,  a  Mission- 
ary Society,  a  Christian  Association,  a  Temperance 
Society,  and  a  Society  of  Christian  Endeavour. 

The  garden  and  grounds  had  also  an  educative 
value  for  those  who  had  come  from  the  squalid 
surroundings  of  the  native  beehive  hut.  It  was 
Stewart's  hope  that  these  would  help  to  train  what 
he  defined  '  the  taste,  or  the  imagination,  or  the 
sense  of  what  is  called  Beauty.'  The  whole  of  Love- 
dale  was  meant  to  be  an  object-lesson  to  the  native, 
and  a  real  contribution  to  his  liberal  education. 

Speusippus,  an  old-world  teacher,  had  the  walls  of 
his  school  covered  with  pictures  suggesting  glad- 
ness. Lovedale,  within  and  without,  was  amply 
supplied  with  such  pictures,  most  of  them  living. 
The  educative  value  of  play  was  also  fully  re- 
cognised. 

The  Principal  was  a  Teacher  of  Teachers,  and  a 
Leader  of  Leaders.  His  enthusiasm  gave  liveliness 
and  persuasiveness  to  his  ideas  and  instructions. 
Some  thought  that  his  pupils  were  over-educated, 
petted,  and  spoiled.  But  they  were  taught  to  do 
solid  work,  and  many  of  them  were  trained  to  be 
pioneers  of  civilisation,  pastors,  missionaries,  evan- 
gelists, teachers,  and  Government  servants.  All 
these  were  needed  for  the  work  among  the  natives, 
and  the  demand  has  always  been  greater  than  the 
supply.  If  native  Christians  are  to  be  leaders  of 
the  people,  they  must  have  the  best  education  they 
are  capable  of.  The  Normal  School  has  sent  forth 
native  teachers  to  all  parts  of  the  land.  The  pro- 
portion of  teachers  trained  at  Lovedale  may  be  from 
one-half  to  two-thirds  of  the  whole  in  South  Africa. 

It  is  admitted  that  education  usually  makes  the 


SUCCESSFUL  DISCIPLINE  195 

native  very  conceited.^  The  first  shallow  draughts 
of  that  spring  intoxicate  his  brain,  but  drinking 
more  deeply  will  by  and  by  sober  him  as  it  sobers 
ourselves.  No  education  can  at  once  add  all  those 
subtle  influences  which  are  a  priceless  bequest  from 
our  centuries  of  civilised  life. 

What  was  said  of  Jowett  might  have  been  said  of 
Stewart, '  Once  a  man's  tutor,  always  his  tutor.'  He 
captured  several  of  his  pupils  and  held  them  as 
willing  captives.  He  was  their  standard  of  excel- 
lence, and  in  many  respects  they  retained  his  impress 
as  the  wax  retains  the  impress  of  the  seal.  I  have 
received  well-written  letters  from  several  of  them, 
and  in  some  cases  I  thought  at  the  first  glance  that 
they  were  old  letters  of  Stewart's. 

The  Discipline  appears  to  visitors  to  be  excellent. 
It  is  not  that  enforced  discipline  which  rouses  the 
instinct  of  youthful  contrariness  and  rebellion,  and 
secures  only  an  outward  and  forced  obedience.  The 
'  tawse '  and  the  sjambok  are  not  permitted.  The 
pupils  have  a  court  of  their  own  at  which  offenders 
are  tried  by  their  peers  under  European  guidance, 
and  according  to  the  rules  of  justice.  Every  year 
many  applicants  have  to  be  turned  away,  and  the 
fear  of  expulsion  is  a  powerful  motive.  The  appeal 
is  made  to  their  self-respect   and   gratitude.     Dis- 

1  *  Do  you  not  know  me  ? '  an  educated  native  said  to  Coillard. 
♦  I  am  the  Zulu  who  converted  Bishop  Colenso.'  The  Kafirs  describe 
a  conceited  scholar  as  'big  in  the  mouth,'  and  the  whites  speak  of  this 
conceit  as  'educational  measles.'  When  Stewart  was  asked  whether 
such  training  did  not  tend  to  beget  conceit,  he  replied,  *  We  live  in  a 
dangerous  world.  We  can  give  the  education,  but  not  the  guarantee.' 
This  rude  uprising  of  unbalanced  manhood  should  not  surprise  us. 
The  native  cannot  be  hustled  through  centuries  of  growth.  Stewart 
most  faithfully  warned  his  students  against  the  dangers  which  beset 
them.  He  was  always  afraid  that  some  of  them  might  improve  the 
mind  at  the  expense  of  the  heart. 


196  STEWART  OF  LOVED  ALE 

cipHne  thus  becomes  largely  a  matter  of  self-govern- 
ment, and  their  behaviour  compares  very  favourably 
with  that  of  our  students  at  university  functions. 
The  pupils  seem  very  happy  and  contented,  as  well 
they  may,  and  the  place  has  an  air  of  seeming 
unconstraint. 

Education  at  Lovedale  approached  closely  to 
Matthew  Arnold's  ideal ;  it  was  '  an  atmosphere,  a 
discipline,  and  a  life.'  The  education  there  was 
largely  atmospheric,  and  it  entered  into  every  part 
of  the  pupil's  life.  They  lived  every  day  in  the 
climate  of  a  genial  Christian  humanity.  Around 
them  was  the  kindling  influence  of  their  hero,  the 
Founder,  and  his  like-minded  colleagues.  The  best 
truth  and  culture  had  become  flesh  and  blood  in 
their  teachers.  The  atmosphere  taught  more  than 
mere  words  could ;  and  they  received  the  highest 
truths  by  genial  infection  and  absorption.  The  soul 
of  the  teacher  was  in  daily  contact  with  the  soul  of 
the  pupil. 

Stewart  thus  describes  this  peculiarity  of  Love- 
dale  :  '  Africans  at  first,  and  indeed  at  all  stages, 
learn,  as  we  all  do,  by  what  they  see  as  well  as  by 
what  they  hear.  Abstract  truth,  however  compre- 
hensive, does  not  tell  on  them.  At  first  it  is  little 
better  to  them  than  the  higher  mathematics  to  a 
child.  But  the  life  and  activity  of  the  missionary 
agents  tell  wonderfully  without  much  formal  speech. 
And  the  mission  station  should  be  to  them  an 
object-lesson  in  order,  progress,  cleanliness,  and 
industry  as  well  as  religious  teaching ;  and  be  also 
a  place  where  they  may  be  always  sure  of  kind 
treatment' 

The  Principal  had  great  patience  with  the  erring, 
and   often   exercised    his    prerogative   of  mercy   in 


FATHERLY  KINDNESS  197 

admitting  some  applicants  who  could  not  comply 
with  the  rules,  and  preventing  the  dismissal  of  others 
who  had  broken  them.  He  hated  putting  away. 
He  thus  secured  two  pupils — William  Koyi  and 
Shadrach  Mgunana — who  ultimately  volunteered  for 
Livingstonia,  and  rendered  very  great  services  there. 
Stewart's  generous  kindness  to  the  scholars,  especially 
when  sick,  was  one  reason  why  so  many  flocked  to 
Lovedale,  and  why  the  discipline  was  so  good.  To 
be  reported  to  him  for  misconduct  was  considered  a 
very  great  disgrace.  '  I  am  a  father,'  he  sometimes 
said, '  and  I  wish  to  treat  these  children  entrusted  to 
me  as  I  should  like  my  own  children  to  be  treated 
if  they  were  under  the  care  of  strangers.'  No  wonder 
that  he  had  the  faculty  of  governing  the  young,  and 
succeeded  so  thoroughly  in  gaining  the  confidence 
and  affection  of  all  his  pupils. 

Lovedale  has  been  widely  accepted  as  a  model. 
It  is  Stewart's  judgment  of  the  best  method  of 
civilising  and  Christianising  the  native,  and  it  is  one 
of  the  greatest  educational  missions  in  the  world. 
Mackay  of  Uganda  warmly  commended  it  for 
adoption  at  Uganda.  '  Lovedale  and  Blythswood  in 
South  Africa,'  he  says,  '  I  would  mention  as  types 
already  successful  in  no  ordinary  degree.'  He  pled 
for  the  planting  of  a  similar  institution  at  Uganda, 
'  which  should  train  the  most  capable  youths  from 
Mengo  to  Khartoum.' 

Lovedale  has  found  favour  among  those  most 
devoted  to  spiritual  work.  This  was  secured  by 
Stewart's  zeal  and  wisdom.  He  always  made  it 
perfectly  plain  that  the  chief  end  of  the  Institution 
was  to  win  souls  to  Christ.  He  says  :  '  The  opposi- 
tion that  once  existed  to  educational  methods  did 
some  mischief.     It  distracted  attention,  lessened  the 


198  STEWART  OF  LOVED  ALE 

sympathies  of  many,  and  led  others  to  believe  that 
non-missionary  and  half-secular  methods  were  being 
adopted.  On  this  one  of  the  presidents  of  Robert 
College  stated  :  "  These  attacks,  though  not  without 
excuse,  were  undoubtedly  a  mistake,  and  put  back 
missionary  work  in  the  East  a  quarter  of  a  century." 
.  .  .  Scottish  missions  rather  led  the  way  than 
followed,  for  Dr.  Duff  was  the  first  in  India  to 
advocate  this  educational  method  as  an  addition  to 
the  evangelistic' 

Stewart  thus  formulates  his  missionary  creed  and 
confession  :  '  We  declare  plainly  that  this  Institute 
exists  to  teach  the  natives  of  Africa  the  religion  of 
Jesus  Christ.  We  care  for  books  and  tools,  work- 
shops and  class-rooms  and  field-work,  only  as  means 
to  open  the  mind  and  develop  the  character  by 
discipline  and  industry,  and  as  aids  not  merely  to 
the  more  ready  acceptance  of  the  truths  of  the 
Bible,  but  to  the  practical  exhibition  of  these  truths 
in  daily  life.  We  try  to  fit  young  men  and  women 
to  become  useful  and  industrious  citizens,  and  to 
become  also  missionaries  of  Christianity  and  civilisa- 
tion to  other  natives  of  Africa  whom  they  may 
reach.  We  believe  in  conversion,  and  regard  that  as 
the  best  and  highest  result  of  our  work.  We  believe 
in  loyalty  to  Jesus  Christ  as  the  highest  and  the 
most  inspiring  missionary  belief.  We  often  fall 
below  it,  but  we  always  begin  again.  Not  all  our 
work  is  fruitful  or  encouraging;  it  is  occasionally,  if 
not  frequently,  disappointing.  But  we  hold  on, 
thankful  to  God  for  the  opportunity,  and  we  leave 
the  final  results  in  His  hands.  We  are  responsible 
for  the  performance  of  duty,  not  for  results.'  Of 
industrial  training  he  says  :  '  It  will  only  do  good,  so 
long  as  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  is  the  life  and  soul 


EDUCATION  WITHOUT  RELIGION         199 

of  all  the  teaching  given,  the  inspiration  of  the  entire 
effort,  and  is  retained  as  the  keystone  of  the  arch  to 
give  stability,  permanence,  and  utility  to  the  whole.' 
Speaking  elsewhere  of  the  essential  aim  of  Lovedale, 
he  says :  'The  conversion  of  the  individual  soul  to 
God  is  the  result  of  highest  value,  is  our  greatest 
anxiety,  and  is  regarded  as  the  aim  most  worthy  of 
effort,  and  to  which  all  other  efforts  are  properly  and 
justifiably  subordinate.  We  cannot  say  that,  as 
regards  all  who  come  to  the  place,  this  end  is 
secured,  but  it  is  steadily  kept  in  view  as  that  without 
which  all  others  are  necessarily  temporary,  and  com- 
paratively limited  and  fruitless.'  And  again  :  '  The 
most  clamant  necessity  is  a  revived  spiritual  life. 
The  presence  of  the  spirit  of  God  among  us,  awaken- 
ing for  the  first  time  from  the  deadness  of  the  natural 
state,  or  giving  us  that  renewed  quickening  without 
which  the  work  of  grace  in  all  is  ever  apt  to  languish, 
this  would  give  us  a  fresh  start,  and  be  as  the  rain 
and  dew  of  heaven  on  the  parched  earth.  Could  we 
but  see  this  influence  to  any  considerable  and 
undoubted  extent,  it  would  make  us  thank  God  and 
take  courage.'  Our  statesmen  are  now  telling  us 
that  our  troubles  in  India  are  due  to  an  education 
which  'sharpens  the  intellect  without  forming  the 
character,'  and  that  education  without  sobriety  readily 
becomes  the  handmaid  of  sedition.  Stewart  always 
declared  that  education  without  religion — such  is  the 
education  in  the  Government  Colleges  in  India — 
would  produce  bitter  fruits.  The  Christian  natives 
of  India  and  Africa  have,  almost  to  a  man,  been  on 
the  side  of  order  and  peace  when  their  heathen 
neighbours  were  in  revolt. 

As  an  educationalist,  Stewart  lived   thirty  years 
before  his  time,  and  was  a  true  prophet.     The  closing 


200  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

clause  in  the  programme  he  drew  up  in  1867  con- 
tained the  germ  of  the  idea  of  a  Native  University. 
Thirty  years  ago  he  foretold  such  a  growth  of 
native  education  as  we  now  witness.  At  the 
General  Missionary  Conference  in  London  in  1878, 
he  thus  concluded  his  speech  : — 

*  The  ultimate  aim  of  Lovedale,  or  that  to  which 
it  might  grow,  has  not  yet  been  stated.  That  aim 
is,  that  the  place  may  become  a  Christian  College, 
largely  for  missionary  purposes  at  first,  but  after- 
wards to  expand  into  something  broader.  The 
proposal  has  never  been  uttered  before ;  it  may  as 
well  be  uttered  now  in  this  Missionary  Conference. 
It  is  this,  that  Lovedale  or  some  such  place  may 
gradually  develop  into  a  Native  University  — 
Christian  in  its  spirit,  aims,  and  teaching.  I  wish  it 
were  possible  to  secure  that  by  some  great  united 
effort  of  the  different  missionary  bodies  labouring  in 
that  country. 

'  The  relation  of  Christian  education  to  the  general 
evangelisation  of  the  world  is  utterly  misunderstood 
by  a  large  portion  of  the  Christian  public  at  home, 
who  are  the  staunch  supporters  of  missions.  I  do 
not  say  it  is  misunderstood  by  all,  but  by  a  large 
number.  We  shall  never  educate  a  native  ministry 
by  merely  selecting  a  few  for  education.  We  shall 
never  leave  behind  us  Christian  churches — self- 
supporting,  and  able  to  aid  in  the  further  advance  of 
Christianity — if  the  bulk  of  their  members  is  allowed 
to  remain  ignorant,  unintelligent,  and  poor.  And 
without  education  this  must  be  the  result  even  after 
a  generation  of  missionary  labour,  in  any  part  of 
Africa  at  least.  The  relation  of  Christian  education 
to  the  permanence  of  missionary  work  is  a  problem 
requiring  much  consideration.' 


THE  WHITE  PUPILS  OF  LOVEDALE         201 

Many  of  the  white  pupils  of  Lovedale  now  occupy- 
very  influential  positions,  and  have  had  a  large  share 
in  the  government  of  the  country,  into  which  they 
have  carried  Lovedale  ideas.  One  of  them,  the  Rev. 
James  Scott  of  Impolweni,  Natal,  thus  recalls  his 
student  days : — '  Though  a  master  in  different  de- 
partments, it  was  in  the  class-room  that  to  me  Dr. 
Stewart  seemed  to  shine.  The  enthusiasm  which  he 
could  arouse  was  a  revelation  ;  I  have  never  seen  any 
approach  to  it  elsewhere.  His  treatment  of  his  stu- 
dents was  perfect.  To  him,  no  matter  how  ignorant 
they  were,  they  were  gentlemen  whose  feelings  and 
opinions  were  worthy  of  due  consideration.  Speak- 
ing on  any  debateable  subject,  he  would  state  his 
own  views  clearly  and  then  ask  the  students  to  ex- 
press theirs.  He  was  never  above  being  put  right, 
and  if  he  did  not  feel  able  to  answer  a  question,  he 
would  frankly  say  so,  and  at  a  later  time  would  refer 
to  the  matter.  Well  do  I  remember  when  he  opened 
the  Chemistry  class.  The  book  we  were  to  use  was 
new  to  him,  there  having  been  a  change  in  the 
Chemical  notation.  "  Gentlemen,"  he  said,  "  the 
book  is  new  to  me  as  well  as  to  you.  I  dare  say  we 
will  flounder  through  it  together,  and  understand  it 
before  we  are  done  with  it."  Certainly  the  "  flound- 
ering through  "  opened  up  a  new  world  to  me,  and 
put  me  in  a  position  to  look  forward  to,  and  expect, 
the  wonderful  advances  which  that  subject  is  now 
making.  .  .  .  One  of  Dr.  Stewart's  peculiarities  was 
his  delight  to  see  two  or  more  men  in  earnest  con- 
versation or  argument.  "  That  is  the  way,"  he  would 
say,  "to  spread  light.  Free  interchange  of  opinions 
is  the  finest  thing  in  the  world,  to  bring  out  truth 
and  make  men  tolerant."' 

H.  C.  Sloley,  Esq.,  a  Member  of  the  Native  Affairs 


202  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

Commission  and  Resident  Commissioner  in  Basuto- 
land,  writes  : — '  For  the  past  twenty-five  years  there 
have  been  a  number  of  boys  from  this  Territory  at 
Lovedale,  availing  themselves  of  the  educational 
advantages  of  that  Institution,  Some  of  these 
scholars  are  partly  supported  by  bursaries  and  grants 
from  the  Basutoland  Government,  and  some  are 
entirely  supported  by  their  parents.  There  is  an 
excellent  native  training  college  for  teachers  in 
Basutoland,  but  to  "  go  to  Lovedale  "  has  for  many 
years  seemed  to  the  Basuto  the  thing  to  be  desired 
in  the  way  of  education. 

'  The  consequence  is  that  there  are  in  Basutoland 
a  considerable  number  of  young  men  who  have 
been  under  Dr.  Stewart's  hands,  who  have  always 
regarded  him  with  respect  and  affection,  and  by 
whom  his  memory  will  ever  be  cherished  and 
venerated.' 

Here  is  the  testimony  of  Sir  Godfrey  Lagden, 
formerly  Commissioner  for  Native  Affairs  in  Basuto- 
land, and  Chairman  of  the  Native  Affairs  Commis- 
sion. He  writes  (April  2,  1908): — 'Many  years 
before  I  became  personally  acquainted  with  Dr. 
Stewart,  I  had  learnt  to  honour  and  respect  his 
name  by  reason  of  the  fine  tribute  paid  to  him  and 
to  his  labours  by  many  admiring  friends  of  his,  both 
olack  and  white,  who  were  gratified  to  speak  of  him, 
and  were  always  anxious  to  do  so.  Subsequently  I 
came  into  closer  association  with  him  when  we  were 
arranging  for  some  of  our  Basuto  boys  to  go  to  the 
Institute,  and  at  intervals  I  visited  Lovedale.  The 
impressions  upon  my  mind  are,  that  the  broad  and 
generous  instincts  of  the  late  Dr.  Stewart  were  re- 
sponsible in  large  measure  for  the  formation  of 
public  opinion  upon  the  subject  of  native  education, 


AN  UNCOMMON  PERSONALITY  203 

which  made  extraordinary  advance  during  his  career 
at  Lovedale.  It  was  not  only  that  many  thousands  of 
natives  received  at  his  hands  a  practical  training, 
but  that  the  public  was  made  to  feel  that  the  training 
was  sound,  and  that  the  results  would  be  beneficial 
to  the  community  at  large. 

'  I  had  the  opportunity  of  watching  the  careers  of 
many  boys  who  went  to  Lovedale  in  a  raw  condition, 
and  who,  after  schooling  there,  turned  out  to  be 
efficient  workmen,  intelligent  clerks,  and  above  all, 
good  reliable  fellows.  And  they  always  spoke  with 
affectionate  remembrance  of  Dr.  Stewart. 

'  I  consider  that  the  life,  and  example,  and  work 
of  Dr.  Stewart  in  South  Africa  should  be  regarded 
as  of  a  monumental  character.' 

E.  B.  Sargant,  Esq.,  formerly  Director  of  Education 
in  the  Transvaal,  writes  : — '  The  late  Dr.  Stewart  was 
one  of  the  most  uncommon  and  interesting  person- 
alities I  have  ever  met.  The  first  and  immediate 
impression  was  that  of  a  man  of  real  courtesy  and 
distinction,  with  the  tastes  of  a  scholar  and  a  gentle- 
man. In  the  second  place,  I  felt  myself  in  the 
presence  of  an  administrator  with  an  autocratic, 
somewhat  imperious,  habit  of  work.  And  finally, 
the  impression  which  pervaded  and  dominated  all 
the  earlier  impressions  was  of  one  who  knew  himself 
to  be  merely  a  servant,  and  whose  one  business  in 
life  it  was  to  discharge  that  service  in  the  most 
complete  and  self-forgetful  manner. 

*  His  attitude  towards  others  and  their  conceptions 
was  no  less  interesting.  He  began  by  trying  to 
ascertain  their  real  motives.  If  satisfied  on  this 
head,  he  next  seemed  anxious  about  their  degree  of 
authority,  their  powers  and  status.  Only  in  the  third 
place  did  he  seek  to  ascertain  individual  ideas.     In 


204  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

fact,  one  of  the  earliest  impressions  he  gave  me  was 
of  an  extraordinary  impersonality  in  regard  to  ideas. 
This  I  take  to  be  due  to  two  causes.  In  the  first 
place,  he  probably  thought  that  ideas  were  mostly 
furnished  to  us  from  without,  and  that  in  the  fullest 
sense  they  were  due  to  inspiration.  In  the  second 
place,  all,  or  nearly  all,  the  ideas  in  regard  to  native 
education  which  possessed  those  of  us  who  had  be- 
come recently  interested  in  the  subject,  were  already 
familiar  to  him,  and  his  concern  was  chiefly  as  to  the 
degree  of  precedence  which  should  be  given  to  each. 

'  His  was  a  solitary,  even  a  hawk-like  nature, 
swooping  with  almost  inconceivable  rapidity  upon 
wilful  conceit  or  disingenuousness  or  intrigue,  but 
quick  to  recognise  unavoidable  ignorance,  and  such 
faults  as  were  merely  faults  of  education.  With 
these  he  dealt  gently,  as  the  teachers  of  men  ever 
choose  to  deal.  To  want  of  faith,  and  to  the  attri- 
bution of  unworthy  motives  to  others,  he  showed 
himself  an  implacable  judge. 

'  The  first  impression  he  made  upon  those  who 
approached  him  was,  therefore,  probably  not  an  im- 
pression of  gentleness,  patience,  and  benevolent 
neutrality.  His  quick  penetration  of  motives,  and 
dislike  of  all  subterfuge,  produced  among  the 
students,  and  not  only  among  the  students,  a 
feeling  akin  to  awe.  It  was  only  by  degrees  that 
one  came  to  perceive  that  he  recognised  and  valued 
every  genuine  expression  of  feeling  in  others,  and 
that  then  when  he  was  once  convinced  of  the 
sincerity  of  motives,  there  was  nothing  more  to  fear. 
Those  who  loved  him  most  loved  him  so,  because 
they  had  most  experience  of  him.' 

After  the  war  Stewart  was  asked  by  the  Board 
of  Education  in  London  to  supply  an  account  of  the 


A  STRIKING  CONTRAST  205 

systems  of  education  among  the  natives  of  South 
Africa.  His  statement  was  published  in  the  Blue 
Book  of  the  Board. 

By  placing  the  great  Headmaster  of  Lovedale 
alongside  of  Dr.  Arnold  and  Dr.  Temple,  the  great 
Headmasters  of  Rugby,  the  contrast  will  help  us 
rightly  to  estimate  his  contribution  to  the  education 
of  our  race.  He  was  a  creator;  they  were  adminis- 
trators and  improvers :  his  pupils  were  savages ; 
theirs  were  highly  educated,  to  begin  with :  he  civilised 
the  rudest ;  they  civilised  a  little  more  those  who 
were  already  civilised :  he  was  the  creator  and  pro- 
vidence of  his  school,  and  had  to  find  all  the  money 
for  it ;  they  had  very  ample  endowments :  he  had 
many  other  exacting  duties ;  they,  while  at  Rugby, 
were  only  educators :  he  taught  most  of  the  arts  and 
crafts  of  civilised  life  ;  they  were  occupied  solely  with 
academic  studies. 


CHAPTER    XX 

THE  AGRICULTURALIST 

The  Best  Farmhouse — The  African  Ideals — A  Genius  for 
Farming  —  Manual  Labour  —  A  Friend  of  Nature — An 
Avenue  worthy  of  the  Mansion. 

'  It  is  the  practical  Christian  tutor — who  can  teach  people  to  become 
Christians,  can  cure  their  diseases,  construct  dwellings,  understand  and 
exemplify  agriculture,  turn  his  hand  to  anything,  like  a  sailor— that  is 
wanted.  Such  a  one,  if  he  can  be  found,  would  become  the  saviour  of 
Africa.' — H.  M.  Stanley. 

'  How  much  a  missionary  must  know  I  How  one  must  be  Jack-of-all 
trades  in  a  country  where  no  trades  are  known,  it  is  difficult  to  imagine 
unless  on  the  spot.' — Mackay  of  Uganda. 

'  Fear  God  and  work  hard." — Livingstone's  last  Advice  to  the  Scholars  of 
Scotlatid. 

'The  best  place  in  which  to  bring  up  a  child  is  an  honest  farmhouse.' — 
John  Locke,  the  Philosopher. 

'  If  any  one  has  a  choice  of  birth  and  training,  let  him  fix  upon  a  farm- 
house.'— President  M' Cosh  of  Princeton  College. 

To  the  words  of  Locke  and  M'Cosh  experience 
would  add :  provided  the  farm  be  not  rack-rented, 
and  the  farmer's  lot  be  midway  between  crushing 
poverty  and  enervating  superfluity ;  provided  also 
that  the  family  live  in  a  genial  Christian  atmo- 
sphere, and  cherish  a  due  appreciation  of  educa- 
tion. 

Such   homes  have   been  the  chief  nurseries  and 
storehouses  of  Scotland's  intellectual  and  spiritual 

208 


THE  GOSPEL  OF  LABOUR  207 

power,  and  in  such  a  home  James  Stewart  spent  his 
youth.  It  was  the  best  university  in  the  world  for 
the  work  of  his  life.  It  developed  his  powers  of 
endurance,  which  were  to  be  so  severely  tested,  and 
it  gave  him  a  knowledge  of  farming,  without  which 
Lovedale  and  his  life  must  have  been  the  poorer. 
He  was  then  girded  for  his  tasks,  though  he  knew 
it  not. 

He  was  a  moral  engineer  and  constructor  of  works 
for  the  uplift  of  the  native.  The  aim  was  to  raise 
his  whole  life,  and  to  raise  it  very  high.  It  was 
plain  that  this  could  not  be  done  so  long  as  the 
native  scorned  work.  Stewart  reverenced  industry 
as  the  mother,  nurse,  and  guardian  of  many  virtues, 
while  sloth  converts  the  soul  into  the  devil's  forge. 
His  creed  on  its  earthward  side  was  after  Carlyle's 
heart.  He  believed  thoroughly  that  work  is  the 
portion  of  every  son  of  Adam  ;  that  the  best  of  it  is, 
not  the  wages,  but  the  work  itself  well  done  ;  that 
honest  work  makes  a  man,  and  scamped  work  a 
scamp.  It  was  part  of  his  creed  that  true  religion 
should  secure  the  best  use  of  a  man's  whole  self,  and 
the  taking  out  of  the  human  stuff  and  providential 
opportunities  all  that  is  in  them. 

'Africa  is  the  land  of  the  unemployed,'  Henry 
Drummond  says  in  his  Tropical  Africa.  This  saying 
is  true  only  regarding  the  men.  •  What  is  the  first 
commandment  ? '  a  Lovedale  boy  was  asked.  '  Thou 
shalt  do  no  work,'  was  the  reply. 

It  was  not  only  that  agriculture  is  the  stable  base 
of  a  nation's  prosperity,  but  there  could  be  no  true 
manhood  or  Christianity  without  cheerful  and  steady 
toil.  The  Africans  of  all  tribes  used  to  believe  that 
all  the  manual  labour  should  be  done  by  the  women, 
and   that   fighting,   raiding,  and   hunting  were  the 


2o8  STEWART  OF  LOVE  DALE 

only  manly  occupations.  Many  of  them  still  believe 
that.  It  is  said  that  a  magistrate  once  presented  to 
Cetewayo,  in  the  name  of  the  Queen,  a  number  of 
barrows.  'Why  does  the  Queen  send  me  those 
things  ? '  he  asked.  *  Does  she  not  know  that  I  have 
plenty  of  women  ?  '  The  native's  wealth  consisted 
of  cattle  and  women.  All  the  cultivation  of  the 
fields  was  done  by  the  women — many  of  them  with 
infants  on  their  backs — with  heavy-headed,  long- 
handled  hoes.  Trained  to  it  almost  from  infancy,  a 
woman  can  carry  nearly  twice  as  heavy  a  load  as  a 
man.  One  of  the  traveller's  surprises  in  Africa  is  to 
see  a  woman  carrying  on  her  head,  with  ease  and 
gracefulness,  a  pile  of  wood  larger  than  her  own 
body,  and  with  which  he  dare  not  test  his  own 
physical  powers. 

As  the  men  could  not  hunt,  or  raid,  or  fight,  their 
manhood  was  rapidly  decaying.  It  was  plain  that 
they  must  exchange  a  pastoral  for  an  agricultural 
life.  These  children  of  the  Earth,  the  Sun,  and  the 
open  air  then  greatly  disliked  mining.  '  Why  should 
a  man  be  put  under  the  ground,'  they  asked,  'before 
he  is  dead  ? '  They  regarded  the  mines  with  trem- 
bling and  superstitious  awe.  At  first  they  were 
horror-stricken  and  fled,  as  every  noise  underground 
echoed  and  reverberated  in  a  most  unearthly  fashioa 

The  natives  have  no  word  for  peace  ;  but  under 
the  Pax  Britannica  the  natives  were  rapidly  in- 
creasing, and  the  lands  reserved  for  them  were 
well  occupied.  Slavery  had  taught  the  lesson  of 
labour  to  the  African  in  America,  but  the  Africans 
in  Africa  still  kept  aloof  from  it.  Stewart  believed 
that  Christianity  touched  nothing  effectually  unless 
it  touched  everything,  and  that  sloth  was  a  deadly 
sin.     He  was  as  hard  on  it  as  the  writer  of  the  Book 


THE  POETRY  OF  AGRICULTURE         209 

of  Proverbs,  holding  that  the  idler  is  the  devil's 
plaything.  He  thus  resolved  to  press  the  attack  on 
heathenism  along  the  whole  line,  and  especially  to 
assail  their  hereditary  scorn  of  manual  labour.  So 
long  as  that  remained,  the  elevation  of  the  race, 
and  especially  of  woman,  was  impossible.  In  the 
Fingoes,  to  the  east  of  Lovedale,  he  saw  a  tribe  that 
had  outstripped  all  their  neighbours,  because  slavery 
had  compelled  them  to  toil  for  their  masters.  All 
these  considerations  urged  him  to  do  his  best  to  fill 
the  vacant  native  mind  with  the  love  of  Christ  and 
of  honest  work.  *  The  reason  and  object  of  our 
industrial  training,'  Stewart  wrote,  '  are  not  the  value 
of  the  labour,  but  the  principle  that  Christianity  and 
idleness  are  incompatible.' 

The  farm-bred  missionary  was  splendidly  equipped 
for  this  task.  A  healthy,  vigorous-minded  boy  on  a 
farm  gains  a  perfect  knowledge  of  farming  without 
tuition,  effort,  or  even  consciousness.  This  know- 
ledge seems  to  come  to  him  by  nature,  and  to  get 
into  his  very  blood.  He  absorbs  it  as  he  absorbs 
sunshine,  and  it  is  never  lost.  He  is  amused  and 
surprised  that  any  youth  should  need  to  be  taught 
farming,  and  suspects  that  the  young  apprentice- 
farmer  must  be  deficient  in  intellect. 

There  was  a  wonderful  peculiarity  about  Stewart's 
interest  in  farming  and  kindred  work.  It  seems  to 
have  yielded  him  the  joys  of  creating,  and  it  proved 
that  he  had  a  genius  for  agriculture.  Like  Antaeus, 
he  got  fresh  vigour  from  the  touch  of  mother-earth, 
and  he  had  a  deep  delight  in  all  the  bounties  she 
yields  to  man.  He  was  mindful  of  the  fact  that 
God  first  planted  a  garden,  and  charged  man  to 
•  subdue  the  earth,  and  dress  it'  Probably  Scotland 
has    never   had    more   than    one    probationer   who, 

O 


2IO  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

supplying  a  country  pulpit  for  a  few  weeks,  went 
into  the  neglected  manse  garden  at  6  A.M.  on 
Monday,  and,  coat  off,  with  his  own  hands  brought 
it  back  to  cultivation  and  beauty  after  the  toil  of 
several  days.  With  him,  as  with  some  of  the 
ancients,  husbandry  seemed  to  be  clothed  with  a 
certain  sacredness.  When  praising  a  man,  Stewart 
used  to  say :  '  He  knows  how  to  take  his  coat  off, 
and  set  to,  himself.' 

The  native's  ignorance  of  agriculture  was  beyond 
belief.  Even  a  man  felt  helpless  in  presence  of  that 
wonderful  and  complicated  invention  of  the  white 
man — a  spade.  He  knew  not  how  to  grasp  its 
handle,  to  put  it  into  the  ground,  to  turn  over  the 
soil.  He  turned  it  upside  down,  and  seized  the 
iron,  as  it  was  most  likely  not  to  give  way  under 
pressure.  In  the  life  of  Schmidt,  the  first  Protestant 
missionary  to  South  Africa,  there  is  a  picture  of  him 
delving.  The  natives,  with  mouths  agape  and  eyes 
enlarged,  are  holding  up  their  hands  in  wonder,  in 
presence  of  the  white  man's  new  witchcraft. 

In  the  early  days,  their  Lovedale  chief  was  the 
very  man  to  train  the  pupils  in  manual  labour,  and 
change  it  from  a  shame  into  an  honour.  The 
Armada  failed  because  its  leader  was  not  a  seaman, 
and  Lovedale  would  probably  have  failed  on  one  of 
its  sides  if  its  leader  had  not  been  a  wonderful  agri- 
culturalist. He  showed  them  how  to  do  work  by  doing 
it  with  them.  One  day  an  influential  party  entered 
the  Lovedale  grounds,  and  found  a  white  man  and 
some  black  boys  delving.  '  Is  Dr.  Stewart  at  home  ? ' 
one  of  the  visitors  asked  the  white  delver.  'Yes,' 
was  the  reply.  '  Could  you  tell  us  where  we  could 
find  him  ?'  Drawing  himself  up,  and  leaning  on  his 
spade,  he  said,  '  I  am  Dr.  Stewart'      Nothing  was 


THE  PLOUGH  AS  AN  EDUCATOR        211 

small  in  his  eyes,  if  it  had  any  relation  to  the  chief 
end  of  his  mission.  His  was  the  spirit  of  Gareth,  who 
wrought  all  kind  of  service  with  the  noble  ease 
that  graced  the  lowliest  act  in  doing  it,  because 
it  was  done  in  Arthur's  kitchen,  and  for  Arthur's 
sake.     The  end  ennobled  the  deed. 

The  plough  has  been  a  great  educator  in  teaching 
the  men  to  work.  The  women  never  plough,  and 
they  consider  it  a  disgrace  to  milk  a  cow.  But  they 
build  the  huts  with  great  skill  and  speed,  while  the 
men  attend  to  the  cattle. 

It  pained  him  to  see  a  Kafir  making  an  uneven 
furrow.  He  would  throw  off  his  coat  and  show  him 
how  to  make  it  straight.  He  could  not  endure 
bungling  work  in  any  department.  His  practical 
thoroughness  abhorred  the  leaving  of  a  ragged  edge. 
Major  Malan,  in  recording  a  visit  to  Lovedale,  says  : 
'  Dr.  Stewart  tells  me  that  in  early  life  he  studied 
farming,  and  could  never  understand  why  till  he 
came  here.  Now  he  finds  his  knowledge  invaluable. 
.  .  .  Nothing  but  the  best  management,  and  his 
knowledge  of  farming  and  unusual  capacity  for 
superintendence,  could  keep  it  going  on  its  present 
scale.' 

The  Principal  was  a  genuine  friend  of  nature,  and 
kept  very  close  to  it.  It  was  a  relief  to  him  to 
escape  from  the  works  of  man  and  delight  himself 
with  the  patterns  and  colours  of  *  the  visible  vesture 
of  God.'  His  were  the  eye  and  the  heart  of  the 
naturalist  and  the  poet.  What  God  had  thought 
worth  making,  he  thought  worthy  of  loving  study. 
His  sympathy  with  nature  and  early  love  of  botany 
remained  with  him  through  life.  Believing  also  that 
God  has  made  the  world  double,  he  prized  these 
scriptures  of  earth,  because  they  afforded  a  rich  and 


212  STEWART  OF  LOVED  ALE 

never-failing    harvest   of   beautiful    and    instructive 
figures.     The  poet's  creed  was  his  : 

'  For  all  that  meets  the  bodily  sense  I  deem 
Symbolical,  one  mighty  alphabet 
For  infant  minds,  and  we  in  this  low  world 
Placed  with  our  backs  to  bright  reality, 
That  we  may  learn  with  one  unwounded  ken 
The  substance  from  its  shadow.' 

His  pupils  were  thus  taught  to  keep  near  God  in 
nature  and  trace  His  footprints  in  the  objects  around 
them. 

The  savage  looks  on  the  world  with  the  eyes  of 
an  ox.  Though  he  can  admire  things  made  by  man, 
he  has  no  sense  of  nature,  no  appreciation  of  the 
wonders  and  beauties  with  which  the  world  is  stored. 
Even  when  converted,  he  often  remains  for  some 
time  blind  to  the  glories  of  creation  and  dead  to  the 
pleasures  they  yield.  In  that  state  he  cannot  make 
much  progress  in  knowledge,  as  it  depends  largely 
on  curiosity  and  habits  of  observation.  It  was  one 
of  Stewart's  avowed  aims  to  foster  taste,  imagina- 
tion, and  a  sense  of  the  beautiful.  He  thus 
hoped  to  foster  in  the  rudest  curiosity,  observation, 
attention,  and  admiration,  these  instructresses  of  the 
opening  mind.  Dr.  Mackay  had  a  similar  apprecia- 
tion of  the  refining  influence  of  a  keen  love  of 
nature.  In  his  From  Far  Formosa  (pp.  145,  176, 
209)  he  tells  that  after  the  spiritual  birth  of  his 
converts  came  the  birth-hour  of  the  sense  of  the 
beautiful.  It  was  as  if  cataract  had  been  removed 
from  their  eyes.  They  then  had  an  eye  and  an  ear 
for  God's  message  in  creation.  Their  faith  in  Christ 
touched  to  life  their  hitherto  dormant  senses.  Even 
they  could  be  taught  that  untidiness  is  unchristian, 
and  that  aesthetics  is  next  to  ethics. 


A  MODEL  FARM  213 

The  Lovedale  grounds  with  their  stately  trees 
were  an  impressive  object-lesson  on  the  fruits  of  well- 
directed  industry.  The  dale  of  the  beautiful  river 
Tyumie  was  a  perfect  wilderness  when  it  was 
acquired  by  the  mission.  It  is  now  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  spots  in  South  Africa,  a  paradise  won  from 
the  veldt,  and  a  fitting  symbol  of  the  spiritual 
husbandry  which  aims  at  making  the  barren  and 
desolate  soil  a  very  garden  of  the  Lord.  The  pupil 
thus  enters  the  Temple  of  Learning  through  the 
gate  called  Beautiful. 

All  the  Lovedale  boys  have  to  do  thirteen  hours 
of  manual  labour  every  week,  chiefly  in  agriculture, 
but  also  in  tree-planting,  road-making,  gardening, 
etc.  A  gold  medal  is  given  for  the  best  spade-work. 
The  garden  was  meant  to  be  an  educational  model. 
Part  of  the  mission  farm  had  2000  acres,  of  which 
400  were  arable.  It  is  called  Domira,  from  the 
name  of  the  Glasgow  residence  of  Mr.  John  Stephen, 
Stewart's  brother-in-law,  the  donor  of  the  land  and 
for  forty  years  a  very  generous  supporter  of  the 
mission. 

The  girls  were  daily  trained  in  all  the  ordinary 
housewiferies.  They  also  helped  to  keep  the  walks 
and  grounds  in  good  order.  They  had  little  gardens 
of  their  own,  and  prizes  were  given  to  those  who 
kept  them  best.  They  were  taught  that  they  could 
not  be  Christians  unless  they  were  also  workers  and 
found  delight  in  the  exercise  of  their  God-given 
powers.  By  all  these  means  a  fruitful  love  of  labour 
was  infused  into  the  whole  institution. 

The  mission  thus  sought  to  slope  and  smooth  at 
every  step  the  incline  by  which  young  Ethiopia 
might  rise  to  a  nobler  destiny,  the  Principal  luring 
them  on  and  leading  the  way. 


214  STEWART  OF  LOVED  ALE 

The  Lovedale  husbandman  could  claim  fellowship 
with  the  Apostle  who  said,  '  And  we  beseech  you, 
brethren  .  .  .  that  ye  study  (make  it  a  point  of 
honour,  or  the  height  of  your  ambition)  to  be  quiet, 
and  to  do  your  own  business,  and  to  work  with  your 
own  hands  as  we  commanded  you'  (i  Thess.  iv.  lo, 
II). 


CHAPTER   XXI 

THE   CAPTAIN    OF   INDUSTRIES  ^ 

Sir  George  Grey — Squaring  the  Circle— A  Hive  of  Industries 
—  Printing  and  Bookbinding  —  Telegraphy  —  The  Rev. 
Horace  Waller — No  Scamping. 

'  The  great  secret  of  life  is  work.' — Cecil  Rhodes. 

'As  a  man,  Coillard  had  lived  close  to  earth ;  as  a  Christian,  close  to 
heaven.' — Coillard  of  the  Zambesi. 

'Africa  may  be  for  the  Africans,  but  Africa  will  never  be  saved  by  the 
Africans  only.' — Mackay  of  Uganda. 

'  Since  it  (Lovedale)  is  a  fair  type,  almost  an  ideal  type,  of  the  industrial 
mission,  it  repays  special  study.' — Dr.  Noble's  'Redemption  of  Africa' 
(A  565)- 

Stewart  fully  recognised  that  man  cannot  live  by 
bread  alone,  and  that  he  cannot  live  without  bread. 
His  ceaseless  aim  was  to  make  Lovedale  a  real 
Alma  Mater,  a  more  bountiful  mother  than  the 
average  university  is  or  can  be.  It  was  his  high 
ambition  to  provide  for  all  the  needs  of  the  native  in 
body,  mind,  and  soul.  He  did  not  wish  him  to  be  a 
learner  for  learning's  sake,  but  to  be  a  learner  that 
he  might  be  a  doer,  a  maker,  a  lover  of  labour,  and 
a  man.  Some  hold  that  in  undertaking  work  of  this 
kind  the  Church  has  gone  off  the  rails,  and  cannot 

^  African  Wastes  Reclaimed,  by  Mr.  Robert  Young,  gives  valuable 
information  on  the  subject. 

216 


2i6  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

expect  to  make  satisfactory  progress.  But  the  early 
Church  relieved  the  poor  by  alms-giving,  and  surely 
the  modern  Church  may  relieve  them  by  helping 
them  to  earn  their  own  living. 

Sir  George  Grey,  the  great  South  African  Pro- 
Consul,^  helped  him  to  realise  some  of  his  aspira- 
tions. On  his  recommendation  ;^3000  v^^as  given  by 
Government  to  Lovedale  for  industrial  training, 
while  various  sums  were  given  to  other  missions  for 
the  same  purpose.  After  a  few  years'  experiment 
the  time  came  for  the  investigation  of  results.  '  The 
consequence  was  that  at  several  places  these  in- 
dustrial departments  disappeared  in  a  day,  like  ships 
foundered  at  sea.  Lovedale,  however,  was  able  to 
hold  steadily  on  its  course.'  In  grateful  recognition 
of  his  help,  Stewart  dedicated  his  Lovedale  to  Sir 
George  Grey,  '  Under  whose  administration  and  by 
whose  aid  the  first  steps  were  taken  to  teach  the  arts 
of  civilised  life  to  the  native  races  of  South  Africa.' 

Stewart  threw  himself  heart  and  soul  into  these 
efforts.  He  felt  that  head-work  would  do  little  for 
the  native  unless  it  were  wedded  to  hand-work.  In 
this  the  missionary  was  imitating  the  Carpenter  of 
Nazareth,  whose  eighteen  silent  years  in  the  work- 
shop have  taught  the  world  more  than  all  its  other 
teachers  have  done  or  could  have  done,  the  dignity 
of  labour,  and  provided  eternal  inspiration  for  all 
who  earn  their  bread  in  the  sweat  of  the  brow. 

He  thus  defined  his  secular  gospel  in  the  Christian 
Express :  '  The  gospel  of  work  does  not  save  souls, 
but  it  saves  peoples.     It  is  not  a  Christian  maxim 

*  He  was  a  true  friend  of  the  missionaries.  In  1890  he  wrote  :  '  My 
heart  is  filled  with  gratitude  to  the  missionaries  who  worked  out  so 
great  and  noble  a  success.  I  earnestly  pray  that  God  may  still  prosper 
the  labours  of  such  true  friends  of  mankind.' 


THE  NATIVE  AT  HOME  217 

only,  that  they  who  do  not  work  should  not  eat ;  it 
is  also  in  the  end  a  law  of  nature  and  of  nations. 
Lazy  races  die  or  decay.  Races  that  work  prosper 
on  the  earth.  The  British  race,  in  all  its  greatest 
branches,  is  noted  for  its  restless  activity.  Its  life's 
motto  is  Work  !  Work  !  Work  !  And  its  deepest 
contempt  is  reserved  for  those  who  will  not  thus 
exert  themselves.' 

The  natives  then  had  no  knowledge  of  either  the 
making  or  the  handling  of  tools,  and  they  could 
almost  as  easily  fly  as  draw  a  straight  line.  Their 
chief  achievement  was  to  build  a  beehive  hut,  and 
that  was  the  work  of  the  women.  It  was  the  easiest 
and  cheapest  way  of  building  a  house,  for  it  gave  a 
maximum  of  space  for  a  minimum  of  toil,  and  it 
avoided  the  difficulty  of  managing  corners. 

Ruskin  says  that  the  circle  is  the  symbol  of  rest. 
In  South  Africa  it  certainly  is  the  symbol  of  utter 
laziness  and  savagery.  To  the  question,  '  What  are 
you  doing?'  the  familiar  answer  of  the  native  is: 
'  Oh,  I  am  just  staying,  I  am  just  sitting.'  That  has 
been  his  physical  and  intellectual  attitude  for  untold 
ages.  His  favourite  occupation  is 'just  sitting.'  Like 
Voltaire's  trees,  he  grows  because  he  has  nothing 
else  to  do. 

The  Principal  did  his  best  to  induce  them  to 
'  square  the  circle,'  a  feat  which  he  found  '  almost  as 
difficult  as  the  mathematical  problem  of  similar 
designation.'  The  native  pointed  to  the  patterns 
in  the  heavens  and  asked :  '  Are  not  the  sun  and 
moon  circles  ?  Are  they  broken  up  into  many 
pieces?'  'The  Kafir  hut  is  a  hotbed  of  iniquity, 
and  as  long  as  such  dwellings  exist,  such  evils  will 
continue  to  check  the  progress  of  the  gospel ' — so 
v/rote  the  Rev.  Tiyo  Soga,  who  had  been  reared  in 


2i8  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

one  of  these  huts.  Hence  the  necessity  for,  and 
moral  value  of,  training  in  the  handicrafts.  Wagon- 
making  was  introduced  and  prospered.  Lovedale 
wagons  fetched  the  highest  price  in  the  market  and 
bore  the  name  in  conspicuous  letters.  The  intro- 
duction of  steam  power  and  machinery  in  other 
places  injured  this  and  some  other  branches  of  the 
industrial  work.  Stewart  had  arranged  to  remedy 
this  defect,  but  the  Church  crisis  in  Scotland  laid  an 
arresting  hand  upon  his  plans.  He  did  not  indeed 
expect  the  industrial  department  to  pay :  his  chief 
end  in  it,  as  in  everything  else,  was  to  make  men. 
He  was  dealing  with  a  race  as  unprogressive  as  any 
known  to  us.  They  had  developed  no  art  of  any 
kind,  no  writing,  no  philosophy,  no  money  currency, 
no  initiative,  and  they  had  lived  very  much  like 
animals.  Industrial  training  was  essential  to  their 
uplifting. 

A  technical  building  was  erected,  and  the  work- 
shops, with  equipment,  cost  over  two  thousand 
pounds.  It  was  then  the  best-equipped  workshop 
in  South  Africa,  and  it  had  bench  accommodation 
for  seventy-two  apprentices.  Those  admitted  have 
now,  after  passing  an  examination,  to  serve  a  three 
years'  apprenticeship  under  competent  European 
teachers. 

Lengthened  description  of  each  department  is  not 
needful,  as  the  beautiful  pictorial  illustrations  will  at 
once  give  an  idea  of  the  nature  and  extent  of  the 
work. 

After  some  delays,  printing  and  bookbinding  were 
begun.  It  was  not  easy  to  induce  the  natives  to 
join  this  department,  Kafir  experience  not  showing 
how  a  man  could  live  and  be  useful  by  arranging 
bits   of  lead   in   a   row.      Many  tracts,  pamphlets, 


THE  MAKING  OF  BOOKS  219 

newspapers,  and  books  have  been  issued  by  the 
mission  press.  Among  these  are  the  first  edition 
of  Dr.  Theal's  History  of  South  Africa;  Dr.  Kropt's 
Kafir-English  Dictionary,  the  standard  authority  on 
the  Kafir  language  ;  the  Kafir  Hymn-book,  of  which 
many  thousands  have  been  sold  ;  Tiyo  Soga's  Kafir 
translation  of  the  Pilgrim's  Progress ;  a  series  of 
Kafir  Readers  ;  and  the  Christian  Express. 

There  is  also  a  Book-store  which  has  supplied  the 
needs  of  the  neighbourhood  and  the  mission-field. 
A  lady  writes  that  this  Book-store  was  one  of  the 
fairylands  of  her  childhood,  and  that  she  spent  her 
pocket-money  in  buying  books  there.  Great  was 
her  delight  to  find  out  there  how  books  were  made. 

Dr.  Theal,  the  Historiographer  of  Cape  Colony, 
formerly  a  teacher  at  Lovedale,  had  charge  of  this 
department  in  its  early  days.  He  writes :  '  There 
was  no  part  of  the  mechanical  work  that  Dr.  Stewart 
had  not  made  himself  master  of,  little  time  as  he 
had  to  devote  to  it.  If  it  had  been  necessary,  he 
could  have  set  in  type  his  own  articles,  imposed 
them,  and  worked  them  off  on  the  press.  He  had 
not  to  do  this,  but  the  knowledge  that  he  could  have 
done  it,  if  necessary,  gave  him  additional  power  over 
the  workers.  .  .  .  To  even  such  humble  work  as  this 
did  Dr.  Stewart  give  his  attention,  and  he  was  more 
than  once  seen  with  a  composing-stick  in  his  hand, 
patiently  showing  a  big  black  boy  how  the  spacing 
ought  to  be  done,  and  explaining  to  him  the  reason 
why.  The  result  of  such  patient  care  was  that 
many  really  good  plain  compositors  were  trained  at 
Lovedale,  though  very  few  followed  that  calling 
after  they  left  the  Institution.  Some  of  them  be- 
came interpreters  in  the  Government  service,  and  so 
turned  their  knowledge  to   good   account ;    others 


2  20  STEWART  OF  LOVED  ALE 

directed  their  attention  to  different  objects,  and  two 
of  them  are  now  ordained  clergymen. 

'  In  just  the  same  way  Stewart  showed  young  men 
how  to  plough  a  straight  furrow  across  a  field,  for 
he  was  offended  with  a  crooked  one ;  and  of  the 
teaching  staff  at  Lovedale,  he  was  probably  alone 
in  his  ability  to  do  this. 

'  The  time  will  come  when  volumes  on  history  and 
many  other  subjects  will  be  needed  by  the  black 
people  of  South  Africa  in  their  own  tongue,  but  that 
time  is  not  yet.  When  it  comes,  the  readers  of  the 
day  may  look  back  with  gratitude  to  Dr.  Stewart, 
for  no  other  man  has  done  so  much  to  prepare  their 
race  for  it.' 

In  1872  a  branch  office  of  the  Electric  Telegraph 
Company  was  opened  at  Lovedale,  and  it  has  proved 
self-supporting.  Two  native  operators,  the  first  pro- 
bably of  their  race  who  had  been  trained  to  the  use  of 
the  instrument,  were  placed  in  charge.  Many  native 
boys  trained  there  have  been  employed  at  Kim- 
berley,  East  London,  and  other  towns.  After  three 
years'  trial,  the  Government  General  Manager  re- 
ported :  '  It  affords  me  pleasure  to  be  able  to  state 
that  from  the  day  on  which  they  entered  on  their 
duties  up  to  the  present,  not  so  much  as  the  shadow 
of  a  complaint  has  been  urged  against  them.' 

A  complete  Post  and  Telegraph  Office,  with 
Money  Order  and  Savings  Bank,  was  established 
at  Lovedale  thirteen  years  ago.  It  is  a  recognised 
office  of  the  Government. 

The  industrial  side  of  the  mission  embraces  car- 
pentry, wagon  -  making,  blacksmith  work,  brick- 
making,  poultry-farming,  bee-keeping,  shoe-making, 
and  the  planting  of  trees.  A  good  deal  of  work  is 
also  done  by  the  lads  in  keeping  in  good  order  the 


IiNTEKlOR    OF    TLCUMCAL    BUILDING    AT    LOVEDALI: 


I  111-;   i:i<i(  ixi  n;i.n 


EARTHLY  AND  HEAVENLY  EVANGELS  221 

buildings,  the  woods,  the  gardens,  the  rooms,  and 
the  farms.  Stewart's  ever-active  mind  sometimes 
contemplated  new  industries,  such  as  artesian  wells, 
the  growth  of  osiers,  and  basket-making. 

In  the  various  Industrial  Exhibitions  in  South 
Africa,  the  work  done  by  the  Lovedale  boys  and 
girls  has  received  a  very  large  number  of  medals 
and  certificates  of  merit.  The  girls  excel  in  all 
kinds  of  needlework,  and  many  interesting  speci- 
mens of  it  are  found  in  almost  every  native  Christian 
home. 

In  1886  the  Rev.  Horace  Waller  wrote  to  Stewart: 
'I  was  very  much  delighted  with  the  Lovedale 
exhibit  in  the  Colonies'  Exhibition  (in  London). 
I  confess  I  chuckled  in  my  trousers  when  I  noticed 
how  thoroughly  you  had  carried  out  your  theories 
of  clothing  the  natives.  Ah  !  for  the  days  of  one-half 
fathom  of  blue  cloth,  and  one  string  of  red  beads. 
I  am  afraid  that  Mrs.  Stewart  and  you  will  relegate 
them  into  a  very  dim  and  distant  past.  The  car- 
pentering seemed  splendid,  and  is  really  a  prodigious 
feat.' 

Stewart  insisted  that  whatever  was  done  at  Love- 
dale must  be  done  thoroughly,  and  that  every  pupil 
must  put  heart  and  conscience  into  his  work  and 
cherish  a  passion  for  excellence  in  all  its  details.  In 
him  the  earthly  and  heavenly  evangels  were  wedded, 
and  he  was  himself  the  incarnation  of  all  he  taught. 
Upon  every  remembrance  of  him  his  pupils  will  be 
reminded  of  the  necessity  for,  and  the  moral  dignity 
of,  labour.  It  is  no  wonder  that  the  demand  for 
Lovedale's  trained  artisans  has  been  greater  than 
the  supply,  and  that  some  of  them  are  capable  of 
maintaining  their  ground  alongside  of  Europeans. 


CHAPTER    XXII 

THE   MEDICAL   MISSIONARY 

Medical  Skill — The  'Cor  Medicum' — Promptness — Grateful 
Patients — The  Medical  College — The  Victoria  Hospital — 
Africa's  Noblest  Womanhood — The  Reverend  D.  Doig 
Young. 

'A  good  doctor  should  be  at  once  a  genius,  a  saint,  and  a  man  of 
God.' — Amiel. 

'  I  am  a  missionary,  heart  and  soul.  God  had  only  one  Son,  and  he  was 
a  missionary  and  a  physician.  A  poor  imitation  of  him  I  am  or  wish  to 
be.  In  this  service  I  hope  to  live,  and  in  it  I  hope  to  die.  It  is  some- 
thing to  be  a  follower,  however  feeble,  in  the  wake  of  the  great  Teacher 
and  only  model  Missionary  that  ever  appeared  among  men.  May  we 
venture  to  invite  young  men  of  education,  when  laying  down  the  plan  of 
their  lives,  to  take  a  glance  at  that  of  missionary?  We  will  magnify  the 
office.' — David  Livingstone. 

'  A  good  surgeon  must  have  an  eagle's  eye,  a  lion's  heart,  and  a  lady's 
hand.' — Old  Proverb. 

'  Let  me  be  sick  myself,  if  sometimes  the  malady  of  my  patient  be  not 
a  disease  unto  me.  I  desire  rather  to  cure  his  infirmities  than  my  own 
necessities.' — Sir  Thomas  Browne's  '  Religio  Medici.' 

Dr.  Stewart  was  a  pioneer  in  medical  missions 
as  in  other  enterprises.  Dr.  Vanderkemp  and  Dr. 
Livingstone  had  preceded  him  in  South  Africa,  but 
neither  of  them  had  done  much  for  medical  missions. 
Dr.  Dalziel,  of  the  Gordon  Memorial  Mission,  was  a 
thoroughly  qualified  medical  missionary,  and  nearly 
all  the  missionaries  dispensed  medicines  to  the 
natives  for  ordinary  ailments.  Stewart  was  the  first 
to  found  a  hospital,  begin  the  instruction  of  native 

222 


NATIVE  DOCTORS  223 

nurses  and  hospital  assistants,  and  lay  the  founda- 
tion of  a  medical  school.  It  is  remarkable  that 
before  his  day  so  little  had  been  done  for  healing 
in  South  Africa,  although  twenty-three  of  Christ's 
miracles,  two-thirds  of  the  whole,  were  miracles  of 
healing. 

His  skill  is  guaranteed  by  his  high  estimate  of 
medicine  as  an  ally  to  the  Gospel ;  by  the  zeal  with 
which  he  pursued  his  medical  studies ;  by  the  large 
practice  which,  during  the  first  twenty  years,  he 
somehow  managed  to  crowd  in  among  many  other 
strenuous  enterprises  ;  and  by  his  reputation,  which 
was  probably  increased  by  the  fact  that  he  would 
receive  no  fee  or  reward.  The  self-respect  of  the 
natives,  however,  was  fostered  by  charging  a  small 
sum  for  medicines  at  the  Lovedale  dispensary. 

His  skill  found  the  amplest  scope,  for  the  natives 
are  more  liable  to  sickness  than  the  whites,  and  they 
suffer  from  many  ailments  which  their  doctors  cannot 
cure  and  ours  can.  One  of  the  names  for  a  native 
doctor  means,  '  Something  fearful  to  look  at,'  and 
his  appearance  usually  justifies  his  title.  Witch- 
doctors and  rain-makers  used  to  hold  the  lives  of 
the  people  in  their  hands.  The  aid  the  native  needs 
most  is  deliverance  from  the  cruel  and  deep-rooted 
superstitions  which  have  caused  numberless  miseries 
and  still  lead  to  social  persecution.  These  evils 
must  perish  in  presence  of  the  most  elementary 
medical  knowledge.  The  Native  Affairs  Commis- 
sioners say:  'The  multiplying  of  District  Surgeons 
and  the  establishment  of  Dispensaries  and  Hospitals 
in  connection  with  Magistracies  in  Native  areas, 
would  have  a  beneficial  effect,  not  only  for  the 
restoration  or  preservation  of  health,  but  also  for 
weaning   the    Natives    from   faith   in   witch-doctors, 


2  24  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

diviners,  or  soothsayers,  or  men  who  profess  to  have 
supernatural  power  or  knowledge  whether  as  medi- 
cine men  or  otherwise,'  Africa's  murdered  millions 
supply  the  most  powerful  plea  for  medical  missions. 

Dr.  Stewart's  spirit  added  greatly  to  his  success 
as  a  physician  and  a  missionary.  The  '  mens 
medica'  and  the  'cor  medicum'  were  his.  He  had 
a  very  large  share  of  the  spirit  of  the  Great  Healer, 
of  whom  we  often  read  that  He  was  '  moved  with 
compassion,'  i.e.  with  a  yearning  pity  which  filled  the 
heart,  and  sent  an  answering  thrill  through  the  whole 
body.  Stewart  had  what  Sir  J.  Y.  Simpson  earnestly 
commended  to  his  students,  '  that  sympathy  which 
is  one  of  the  most  potent  agencies  of  cure,  that  gentle 
womanliness  of  heart  which  the  sick  in  depression 
and  pain  so  often  look  for,  long  for,  and  profit  by.' 
His  heart  went  out  at  once  to  any  sufferer,  black  or 
white,  especially  to  the  aged,  the  humble,  the  weak, 
the  lunatic,  and  semi-lunatic.  His  ready  sympathy 
overflowed  even  upon  animals.  His  poorest  patients 
saw  him  at  his  very  best,  and  were  deeply  impressed 
by  some  qualities  which  were  not  suspected  by  those 
who  saw  him  in  his  other  capacities.  Dr.  Laws 
writes :  *  For  the  sick  and  the  suffering  his  sym- 
pathy and  help  were  ever  ready,  and  he  had  the 
gentlest  of  hands  for  the  patients  under  his  care. 
To  watch  by  a  sick-bed  along  with  him  for  a  night 
was  a  lesson  to  be  remembered  for  life.' 

His  self-sacrificing  diligence  and  promptness  were 
highly  appreciated.  During  many  years  he  had  the 
sole  medical  charge  of  all  the  boys  and  girls  in  the 
Institution,  To  his  ministerial  work  in  Alice  he  also 
added  that  of  medical  adviser  for  the  town  when 
there  was  no  resident  doctor  in  the  district.'  The 
inhabitants  presented  him  with  a  sum  of  money  *  to 


HELPING  THE  NEEDY  225 

obtain  an  oil-painting  of  himself,'  In  the  address 
accompanying  it,  special  reference  was  made  to  'the 
extreme  kindness  always  manifested  by  Dr.  Stewart 
to  those  who  were  sick  or  in  trouble.'  In  the  early 
years,  by  day  and  night,  he  was  at  the  call  of  the 
needy.  Once  he  travelled  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  over  a  rough  road  to  visit  a  poor  black  woman. 
Her  life  was  saved,  and  the  father  afterwards  visited 
him,  wished  to  kiss  his  feet  in  token  of  gratitude,  and 
offered  him  two  sovereigns.  Here  are  some  extracts 
from  the  Christian  Express: — 

'  What  a  full  life  was  Dr.  Stewart's  in  the  summer 
of  his  strength.  Oftentimes  the  dawn  of  a  new  day 
saw  him  busy  overtaking  the  work  of  that  which 
had  gone  before.  He  was  ever  a  strenuous  worker, 
but  twenty  to  thirty  years  ago,  when  Lovedale  was 
shaking  itself  out  to  its  ampler  manhood,  he  deemed 
fourteen,  sixteen,  or  even  eighteen  hours  of  incessant 
toil  a  common  daily  task. 

*  He  taught  in  the  Institution,  he  edited  this  paper, 
he  had  medical  charge  of  the  Mission,  in  addition 
to  week-day  services  he  preached  two  sermons 
every  Sabbath,  he  saw  to  every  detail  of  the  work, 
he  guided  every  distinct  department,  he  examined 
the  classes,  he  superintended  the  field  companies  ;  he 
was  here,  there,  and  everywhere,  tireless,  commanding, 
inspiring. 

'At  a  period  when  medical  aid  was  difficult  to 
obtain  in  the  district,  many  were  the  calls  made 
on  Dr.  Stewart's  time  and  strength.  Yet  he  gave 
both  ungrudgingly,  and  no  home  was  too  far,  no  road 
too  difficult,  no  night  too  stormy,  to  hinder  the  great 
missionary  in  his  errands  of  mercy.  In  these  days 
he  was  the  beloved  physician  in  many  a  home.' 

Here  are  some  testimonials  from  his  grateful 
P 


226  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

patients  and  their  friends.  '  He  had  an  almost  un- 
erring instinct  in  detecting  the  seat  of  disease.  .  .  . 
He  himself  saw  to  the  well-being  and  nourishment 
of  his  patients,  often  bringing  them  the  food  they 
needed  to  restore  them  to  health.' 

Of  one  case  it  is  told  :  '  He  came — saw  it  to  be  a 
very  bad  case.  He  got  a  nurse  to  be  there  during 
the  night.  We  found  him  hatless  at  the  door  one 
night,  with  a  saucepan  in  one  hand  and  his  slippers 
in  the  other,  and  thus  he  entered  the  sick  -  room. 
With  much  care  and  attention  he  was  able  to  master 
the  case  and  to  get  the  patient  on  her  feet  again.' 

'  It  seemed  the  most  natural  thing  that  he  should 
be  told  when  sickness  occurred.  If  it  seemed  urgent, 
his  response  was  immediate.  And  he  was  there 
more  as  a  friend  than  as  a  doctor.  How  often  has 
his  presence  in  the  sick-room  lightened  and  lifted 
the  load  of  anxiety  that  weighed  heavy  on  troubled 
hearts.  I  can  remember  the  case  of  a  child  seriously 
ill  with  croup.  The  anxious  parents  sent  for  Dr. 
Stewart.  He  stayed  the  whole  night,  applying  the 
necessary  remedies  until  the  immediate  danger  was 
over.  .  .  .  Many  a  poor  old  native  will  miss  the  new 
warm  blanket  when  the  cold  weather  sets  in,  and 
many  an  invalid  will  miss  the  jug  of  rich  soup  or 
other  "  comfort "  which  was  sure  to  be  sent,  or  more 
often  carried  by  his  own  hand.  .  .  .  He  had  infinite 
patience  and  consummate  tact.  He  could  be  as 
tender  as  a  woman  with  the  sick,  the  ignorant,  the 
wayward,  but  wrong  ever  roused  in  him  a  fierce  and 
fervid  anger.' 

'  A  distinct  mental  picture  of  him  still  remains — 
that  of  his  stealing  into  a  house  one  evening,  boots 
in  one  hand  and  a  pan  containing  soup  in  the  other. 
Hs:  had  saved  two  lives  in  that  house  that  day,  and 


AN  UP-TO-DATE  HOSPITAL  227 

in  this  style,  so  like  the  man,  he  paid  his  evening 
visit' 

The  Medical  College. — An  up-to-date  Hospital  at 
Lovedale  was  one  of  Stewart's  many  ambitions. 
In  the  nineties  there  were  only  five  legally  qualified 
medical  missionaries  south  of  the  Zambesi.  Though 
that  district  was  considerably  larger  than  British 
India,  it  had  no  properly  equipped  mission  hospital 
where  natives  could  be  trained  to  help  their  own 
people.  Even  the  Christian  natives  were  afraid  to 
go  near  the  sick,  and  invalids  were  often  left  to  die 
without  medicine  or  nursing,  or — a  still  sadder  fate 
— were  handed  over  to  the  witch-doctor. 

Stewart's  first  efforts  to  remedy  this  defect  were 
unsuccessful.  But  in  1895,  by  the  generous  aid  of 
Mr.  D.  A.  Hunter,  a  large  sum  was  collected,  and  the 
Colonial  Government  aided  on  the  pound-for-pound 
system.  The  beautiful  Victoria  Hospital  was  opened 
in  1898,  and  additions  have  since  been  made  to  it. 
Its  dual  aim  is  to  relieve  the  sick  and  to  train  native 
young  men  as  hospital  assistants  and  native  young 
women  as  nurses.  Dr.  James  M'Cash  and  Miss 
Wallace  took  charge  of  the  hospital  as  unsalaried 
agents.  The  prejudices  and  distrust  of  the  natives 
were  gradually  overcome,  and  last  year  there  were 
about  five  thousand  attendances  at  the  hospital,  and 
patients  are  now  coming  to  it  from  great  distances. 

Two  native  nurses  have  completed  their  three  years' 
course,  and  one  of  them  is  in  charge  of  a  Mines' 
hospital,  and  has  a  salary  of  ;^I2  a  month,  with  board 
and  quarters.  Three  young  men  have  been  fully 
qualified  as  hospital  assistants,  and  have  found  useful 
spheres. 

But  this  is  only  the  beginning.  '  Instead  of  twos 
and  threes,'  Mr.  Hunter  writes,  'we  should  be  turning 


228  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

out  these  trained  natives  in  scores  and  hundreds  if 
the  great  need  of  their  vast  land  is  to  be  met.' 

The  present  superintendent  of  the  hospital  is 
Dr.  Neil  Mac  Vicar,  'an  ideal  medical  missionary.' 

Dr.  Stewart  even  dared  to  dream  that  Lovedale 
in  the  fulness  of  time  might  become  a  Medical 
College  where  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Ethiopia 
might  receive  a  complete  medical  education,  and 
that  this  hospital  might  do  for  it  what  the  Royal 
Infirmary  in  Edinburgh  does  for  the  University. 
This  bold  dream  of  his  will  probably  be  realised 
as  his  other  dreams  have  been.  When  the  native 
M.D.  has  a  degree  conferred  by  a  Native  University 
some  may  remember  that  James  Stewart  was  the 
first  on  the  mountain-top  to  hail  and  herald  the  Dawn 
on  the  southern  side  of  the  Dark  Continent.  Mean- 
while this  hospital  is  giving  a  death-blow  to  the 
miserable  superstitions  which  sometimes  cleave  to 
those  who  have  accepted  Jesus  Christ  as  their  Great 
Physician.  The  lancet  has  proved  mightier  than  the 
sword  in  opening  closed  doors  among  heathen 
nations,  and  it  is  far  mightier  than  the  sword  in 
destroying  some  of  the  worst  foes  to  human 
happiness. 

The  Victoria  Hospital,  with  'its  clinical  Chris- 
tianity,' is  the  parable  of  the  Good  Samaritan  done 
in  stone,  a  concrete  gospel  which  reveals  love  by 
deeds.  In  contrast  with  their  squalid  huts,  the 
sweetness  and  cleanness  of  this  beautiful  building, 
its  pervading  atmosphere  of  Christian  love  in  a  love- 
less land,  its  power  to  bless  and  its  abundance,  may 
well  seem  to  them  scarcely  to  belong  to  this  poor 
world.  It  is  an  impressive  monument  to  the  Great 
Physician  and  a  memorial  of  the  Christian  faith. 
The  medical  missionary  effectually  illustrates  Christ's 


A  FIFTH  GOSPEL  229 

mission  by  reviving  it.  Among  rude  heathens  our 
religion  is  never  so  intelligible  or  winsome  as  when 
presented  in  such  deeds  of  ministering  love.  It  is 
the  only  exhibition  of  our  holy  religion  which  some 
of  them  can  comprehend.  In  the  ceiling  of  one  of 
Rome's  chapels  is  a  splendid  painting  which  cannot 
be  seen  plainly  at  such  a  height,  but  a  minor  has 
been  placed  on  the  table  under  it,  and  visitors  see 
the  whole  picture  in  the  glass.  In  the  Mission 
Hospital  the  dullest  may  thus  gain  a  true  vision  of 
the  Great  Healer,  as  He  is  mirrored  in  the  lives  of 
His  under-healers.  The  Lovedale  Bethesda  thus 
becomes  a  fifth  Gospel  and  an  appendix  to  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles. 

A  member  of  his  staff  writes : — '  We  of  Lovedale 
in  the  past  know  what  Dr.  Stewart  was  in  the  sick- 
room. Skilful,  gentle,  and  sympathetic  to  a  degree, 
his  presence  inspired  confidence,  and  his  words  gave 
wonderful  comfort.  Memory  carries  one  back  to 
days  of  sickness  and  bereavement  in  the  house.  I 
can  see  him  now,  sitting  with  the  little  suffering 
one  in  his  arms,  watching  every  symptom  and 
change,  and  with  us  he  watched  until  he  laid  the 
little  one  on  the  bed,  and  said, "  Your  child  is  with 
Jesus."' 

The  warm  words  of  the  Rev.  D.  Doig  Young,  one 
of  Stewart's  colleagues  and  patients,  are  worth  record- 
ing : — ^  Dr.  Stewart  as  an  Angel  of  Comfort. — That 
Dr.  Stewart  was  a  strong  man,  a  keen  debater,  and 
knew  how  to  demolisli  an  opponent,  was  well  known. 
Many  thought  him  hard,  dictatorial,  and  void  of 
consideration  for  the  feelings  of  others.  They  saw 
a  mighty  man,  consumed  with  jealousy  for  his 
beloved  Lovedale,  and  determined  that  nothing, 
no  man  even,  should  stand  in  the  way  of  what  he 


230  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

conceived  to  be  necessary  for  the  truest  progress 
of  that  noble  institution. 

'But  it  was  given  to  some  to  meet  with  another 
Dr.  Stewart,  the  gentle,  Christian  physician.  When 
one  was  ill  or  in  trouble,  then  Dr.  Stewart  was  mani- 
fested as  a  true  Angel  of  Comfort.  Sometimes  he 
would  have  the  invalid  talcen  to  his  house  to  be  not 
only  nursed  and  doctored,  but  given  those  hundred- 
and-one  little  attentions  that  are  so  comforting  to 
the  sick  one.  Though  he  was  an  extremely  busy 
man,  he  would  nevertheless  find  time  to  sit  by  the 
bedside,  conversing  with  and  even  reading  to  the 
patient  in  that  low,  gentle,  attractive  voice,  that  was 
peculiarly  his. 

*  When  one  of  the  staff  was  seized  with  brain  fever 
and  pneumonia,  though  the  Alice  medical  doctor 
was  in  charge  of  the  case,  Dr.  Stewart  would  at  all 
hours  of  the  night,  as  well  as  of  the  day,  walk  down 
the  avenue  and  enter  the  house  so  silently  that  the 
one  watching  by  the  bedside  would  only  become 
aware  of  his  presence  by  hearing  a  gentle  voice 
asking,  "  How  is  he  now  ? "  One  at  that  time 
wondered  when  he  himself  found  his  much-needed 
rest.  Wherever  there  was  sickness  or  trouble  in 
any  house  in  Lovedale,  one  was  always  sure  to  find 
Dr.  Stewart  a  constant  visitor  there,  doing  all  he 
could  to  give  relief  and  comfort.  He  had  a  very 
large,  sympathetic  heart,  and  was  spoken  of  as  the 
"  Angel  of  Comfort."  In  all  such  deeds  of  kindness, 
he  was  backed  by  her  who  was  a  true  helpmeet.  She 
would  send  hour  after  hour  some  delicacy  to  tempt  the 
appetite  and  keep  up  the  strength  of  the  invalid.' 


CHAPTER    XXIIP 

THE   PIONEER  OF   THE   EAST   AFRICAN    MISSION, 
189I-1892 

Again  Pioneering— In  the  Jungle— No  Water— Kibwesi— An 
Infant  Lovedale— Stewart's  Methods— The  Rev.  D.  C. 
Ruffell  Scott,  D.D.— The  Rev.  J.  Robertson,  D.D. 

•Other  sheep  I  have  which  are  not  of  this  fold."  The  Bishop  of  Sierra 
Leone  says  that  these  words  on  Livingstone's  tomb  in  Westminster 
Abbey  made  him  a  missionary. 

•  Is  it  right  to  keep  the  Gospel  to  ourselves?' —  Welz. 

'  We  are  in  great  danger,  the  greater  therefore  should  our  courage  be. ' 
— Mazzini. 

In  May,  1890,  Stewart  left  Lovedale  on  what  was 
really  his  first  furlough,  though  he  had  spent  twenty- 
four  years  in  arduous  toil.  His  time  and  strength 
during  his  previous  visits  to  Scotland  had  been 
devoted  chiefly  to  the  interests  of  Lovedale,  Blyths- 
wood,  and  Livingstonia. 

In  1 891  he  was  in  his  sixty-first  year,  but  still  as 
active  and  vigorous  as  most  men  are  at  thirty. 

Sir  William  Mackinnon  and  his  friends  had  sub- 
scribed a  large  sum  of  money  for  establishing  a  new 
mission  in  the  territories  of  the  Imperial  British 
East  African  Company,  now  the  East  African  Pro- 
tectorate.    They  requested  Stewart  to  organise  and 

1  The  facts  in  this  chapter  have  been  gleaned  from  two  reports  by 
Dr.  Stewart  on  the  establishment  of  this  mission. 

281 


232  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

lead  the  expedition,  select  the  site  for  the  mission, 
and  lay  its  foundation  after  the  pattern  and  spirit 
of  Lovedale.  The  proposal  was  after  his  own  heart, 
and  with  the  approval  of  his  Church,  he  at  once 
consented.^ 

On  his  way  out  he  a  second  time  visited  the  house 
at  Quilimane  in  which  he  had  stayed  when  he  re- 
turned from  the  Zambesi,  all  forlorn,  in  1863.  These 
words  then  came  to  him  with  great  power :  '  Thou 
shalt  remember  all  the  way  by  which  the  Lord  thy 
God  hath  led  thee.'  He  fervently  thanked  God  and 
took  courage. 

In  August,  1 891,  he  collected  at  Zanzibar  a 
hundred  and  fifty  men  as  the  nucleus  of  his  force. 
He  had  many  vexing  African  delays,  for  he  was  in 
a  land  where,  as  he  put  it,  '  everything  was  done 
to-morrow.'  About  the  middle  of  September  he 
started  from  Mombasa  with  two  hundred  and 
seventy-three  men,  of  whom  six,  including  himself, 
were  Europeans.  There  was  no  railway  then  to 
Uganda,  and  as  animal  transport  was  impossible, 
everything  had  to  be  carried  on  men's  heads.  '  The 
walk  was  very  hot,  through  mangoes  and  jungle — 
something  like  the  air  of  a  hot  palmhouse  at  home. 
The  road,  a  native  footpath  merely,  wound  to  every 
point  of  the  compass  through  thick  jungle,  mostly 
of  thorns  of  the  "  wait-a-bit "  type,  and  thick  cactus 
and  euphorbias,  which  kept  out  every  breath  of  air.' 
He  had  also  the  usual  troubles  with  porters,  several 
of  whom  were  malingerers. 

They  had  to  go  through  the  Taro  Desert,  at  that 
season   an  inhospitable  belt  or  *  thirst-land,'  which 

^  Mackay  of  Uganda,  in  the  second  last  message  he  sent  home  to 
his  friends  in  this  country,  pled  that  a  second — he  might  have  said  a 
fifth — Lovedale  should  be  planted  in  East  Central  Africa, 


A  THIRST-LAND  233 

had  been  fatal  to  many  travellers.  '  That  dreaded 
Taro  plain,' ^  Bishop  Hannington  calls  it.  It  was 
the  same  route  by  which  he  travelled  in  1885  to 
find  an  African  grave.  The  thorny  bushes  tore  the 
travellers'  clothes  and  flesh.  In  some  caravans  as 
many  as  half  a  dozen  lives  had  been  lost  in  that 
waterless  waste.^ 

The  nearest  water  was  two  thousand  feet  up  the 
mountain,  and  at  a  distance  of  fifteen  miles.  To 
reach  it  they  had  to  plod  on  under  a  burning  and 
blazing  heat.  '  The  appeals  for  water  were  very 
touching,'  Stewart  wrote.  '  I  had  to  use  force  or 
threaten  it,  to  prevent  a  wholesale  desertion.  Good 
water — any  water  is  now  good — and  the  first  flowing 
stream  we  have  seen  for  a  hundred  and  thirty  miles. 
Every  one  feasted  his  eyes  on  the  glorious  sight  of 
a  small  river  waist-deep  or  nearly.  A  small  river 
never  before  looked  so  glorious  in  the  morning  light' 
Many  loads  had  to  be  left  behind.  But,  while  there 
was  great  distress,  no  life  was  lost.  This  trouble 
caused  a  week's  delay. 

It  was  Stewart's  way  to  say  little  or  nothing  about 
his  own  work,  and  to  commend  the  work  of  others. 
He  does  not  tell  that  he  was  the  only  man  in  the 
party  who  was  not  overcome  by  the  heat  and  thirst, 

*  Ruth  B.  Fisher  writes  that  in  this  neighbourhood  she  found  the 
ground  '  strewn  with  the  bleached  bones  and  skulls  of  those  who  had 
died  for  want  of  water '  (Oft  the  Borders  of  Pigmy  Land). 

^  Stewart  was  greatly  interested  in  the  curious  water-holes  in  the 
Taro  plain.  They  were  found  in  clusters  near  big  boulders.  They 
were  only  a  few  inches  wide  while  they  might  be  twenty  feet  deep. 
The  narrowness  of  the  opening  and  the  shelter  of  the  rock  prevented 
evaporation,  while  the  great  depth  of  the  hole  stored  a  great  quantity 
of  water  during  the  rainy  season.  But  for  these  holes  the  great  plain 
would  have  been  impassable  for  man  or  beast.  There  are  similar 
water-holes  in  the  deserts  of  Australia,  but  they  are  never  found  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  rivers. 


234  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

and  that,  but  for  him,  many  in  the  expedition  might 
have  perished,  or  have  been  compelled  to  turn  back. 
'  He  never  had  an  hour's  illness.'  It  has  been  re- 
marked that  in  such  trying  enterprises  the  leader 
often  fares  better  than  the  followers.  He  had  that 
keen  instinct  of  travel  which  delays  the  conscious- 
ness of  growing  age  by  adding  to  the  buoyancy'of 
life,  and  quickening  all  one's  powers.  His  boyish 
desire  to  carry  a  Bible  in  his  pocket  and  a  rifle  on 
his  shoulder  v/as  again  fully  realised.  He  had  often 
to  rely  on  his  gun  for  a  supply  of  fresh  meat. 

Stewart  took  a  horse  with  him,  and  rode  the 
greater  part  of  the  way.^  This  was  the  first  horse 
that  made  the  journey  into  the  interior  and  back 
to  the  coast.  Stewart  was  told  that  it  would  cer- 
tainly never  return.  As  the  natives  had  never  seen 
a  horse,  many  came  long  distances  to  gaze  on  the 
wonderful  beast.  As  it  was  believed  to  be  '  salted  ' 
— immune  from  the  tsetse  fly  and  the  African  horse 
sickness — Stewart  was  offered  a  very  large  price  for 
it  by  the  British  Military  Expedition  then  about  to 
enter  the  country.  He  declined  the  offer.  '  His 
horse,'  he  said,  'had  gone  among  the  natives  as  a 
messenger  of  peace,  and  he  did  not  wish  it  to  return 
as  a  messenger  of  war.'  He  afterwards  sold  it  to 
a  gentleman  in  Mombasa  on  condition  that  he 
would  not  sell  it  to  the  Military  Expedition.  On 
his  way  home  he  learned  that  the  horse  had  died. 
With  a  refinement — most  people  would  deem  it  an 
excess — of  mercantile  honour,  he  returned  the  price 
of  the  horse.     The  purchaser  then  wrote  to  him  : — 

*  I  certainly  never  dreamed  that  you  would  think 

*  Since  writing  this  chapter  I  have  learnt  that  Stewart  took  two 
horses  with  him,  and  that  they  were  at  the  disposal  of  the  sick  white 
men  in  his  party.     One  of  the  horses  died  at  Kibwesi. 


^4 


I)K.    SII'.WAIM    S    IIOKSI'-,    Al     KllNr\r,     AM)    I'.Anl'Ai;    TKi:]-: 


BLACK    AM)    Win  IE    IN    }lAKMONV:     TllK    I.O\I-.I)AI  F     P.ANK 


A  WONDERFUL  HORSE-DEAL  235 

of  refunding  me  the  300  Rupees  (;^2o)  I  paid  for 
him.  It  is  really  too  good  of  you.  Such  a  transac- 
tion or  experience  in  horse-dealing  I  never  had,  nor 
do  I  expect  to  have  such  another.  Allow  me  to 
return  my  sincere  thanks  to  you  for  your  princely 
magnanimity  in  this  matter.  I  only  hope  I  may 
have  the  chance  some  day  of  making  some  return 
for  your  kindness.  I  think  I  mentioned  in  my  letter 
how  I  was  pressed  by  Captain  Nelson  to  sell  him 
the  horse,  but  I  would  not  go  back  upon  my  pro- 
mise to  you.  I  trust  that  if  I  can  be  of  any  service 
to  you  or  to  the  mission,  you  will  not  fail  to  make 
use  of  me,  as  I  shall  only  be  too  glad  to  do  anything 
I  can  for  you. 

'  With  kindest  regards  and  many  thanks  for  your 
great  kindness,'  etc. 

The  writer  of  this  letter  was  a  severe  critic  of 
missions  and  missionaries,  but  this  unique  horse- 
deal  disposed  him  to  soften  his  criticisms. 

This  is  not  the  only  proof  of  Stewart's  high  ideals 
about  money.  A  gentleman  left  a  large  sum  to  Love- 
dale,  and  also  a  considerable  sum  to  Mrs.  Stewart. 
It  turned  out  that  there  was  not,  in  Dr.  Stewart's 
opinion,  an  adequate  provision  for  the  donor's  widow 
and  children.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Stewart  at  once  trans- 
ferred the  legacy  to  them. 

•This  is  to  be  a  missionary  caravan,'  he  wrote 
home,  '  if  I  can  make  it  so.  .  .  .  We  had  our  service 
with  a  portion  of  the  natives  of  the  caravan.  We 
got  the  length  of  the  Lord's  Prayer.  I  spoke  to 
them  on  the  first  words,  which  they  repeated,  "  Our 
Father  which  art  in  Heaven." ' 

A  site  was  selected  on  the  river  Kibwesi,  about 
two  hundred  miles  from  Mombasa,  and  about  forty 
miles  north-east  irora  Kilimanjaro,  which  forms  part 


236  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

of  what  was  formerly  known  as  the  '  mountains  of 
the  moon.'  It  is  only  four  degrees  from  the  equator, 
and  rises  to  a  height  of  19,681  feet,  and  above 
14,000  feet  its  great  dome  is  covered  with  perpetual 
snow,  in  spite  of  the  equatorial  sunshine.  The 
district  around  is  very  beautiful  and  fertile — great 
rolling  prairie  plains  with  beautiful  green  grass,  and 
crowded  with  big  game,  zebras  in  hundreds,  and 
hartebeest.  The  ground  was  thick  jungle,  and  con- 
sequently worthless  to  the  owner.  The  natives  were 
very  friendly.  Stewart  bought  five  hundred  acres  of 
land  from  the  chief,  for  which  he  paid  in  calico  and 
brass  wire,  then  the  current  coin  of  that  realm.^ 

Very  soon  does  the  presence  of  the  missionary 
act  as  the  '  wand  of  the  magician.'  Stewart  at  once 
began  to  plant  an  infant  Lovedale,  with  its  church 
or  schoolhouse  and  neat  little  village.  Roads  were 
made  and  a  garden  was  planted.     He  also  set  about 

^  Here  is  the  closing  part  of  the  agreement  with  the  chief.  '  And 
it  is  made  known  that  by  this  sale  and  the  terms  thereof,  Kilundu 
further  confirms  his  desire,  expressed  from  the  first,  that  the  mission 
should  settle  in  his  district,  and  also  his  promise  to  give  land  for 
building  and  cultivation  whenever  a  suitable  site  should  be  found. 

'  In  consideration  of  the  aforesaid  payment,  Kilundu,  on  behalf  of 
himself  and  the  Wa-Kamba  people  in  his  district,  hereby  transfers  to 
Dr.  James  Stewart,  on  behalf  of  the  Committee  of  the  East  African 
Scottish  Mission,  all  right,  title,  and  interest  of  the  said  land.  In 
confirmation  of  the  sale,  we,  the  undersigned,  do  hereby  attach  our 
signatures  on  this  the  seventh  day  of  December,  1891. 

His 

(Signed)        Kilundu.  X 

mark 
(     ,,     )        James  Stewart. 

Signed  in  the  presence  of 

(Signed)  R.  U.  Moffat.  Witnessed  by  us 

George  Wilson.  7th  December,  1891. 

Muti  Ya  Ntatu.  X 

Ngezu  Wa  Kilundu.'  X 


THE  WAND  OF  THE  MAGICIAN  237 

training  a  number  of  oxen.  He  gives  his  reasons 
for  this  novel  experiment,  and  they  reveal  his  life- 
long and  generous  sympathy  with  the  downtrodden. 
He  says :  *  This  work,  unimportant  as  it  may  seem, 
will  have  widespread  effects  on  the  condition  of  the 
Wa-Kamba  women.  All  the  transport  between  the 
villages,  as  well  as  all  the  cultivation,  is  done  by 
them,  and  it  is  rare  to  meet  the  Wa-Kamba  woman 
who  is  not  either  carrying  a  load  or  returning  from 
doing  so.'  This  breaking-in  of  oxen  he  regarded  as 
part  of  the  '  true  missionary  view  of  the  situation,' 
for  he  'considered  nothing  that  would  be  helpful  to 
the  success  of  the  mission  as  outside  of  his  duty.' 

'  There  is  a  marvellous  transformation  already,' 
he  wrote  ;  '  you  have  no  idea  how  pleasant  the  place 
looks  even  now.'  He  was  very  hopeful  about  the 
field,  and  it  might  have  tempted  him,  but  for  Love- 
dale.  '  I  am  very  sorry,'  he  wrote, '  to  go  and  leave 
so  promising  a  beginning,  which  has  in  it  almost 
boundless  possibilities  of  good.' 

Four  natives  and  one  European  died  on  the 
expedition.  When  the  first  native  died,  he  wrote : 
*  He  had  a  mother,  and  was  once  the  joy  of  his 
mother's  heart.  Poor  fellow,  but  it  was  "  only  a 
native  who  was  dead."  That  is  the  common  view 
that  is  taken  in  this  caravan  work.'  Stewart  was 
the  only  one  in  the  party  'untouched  by  sickness, 
and  unmarked  by  fatigue.'  At  sixty  his  body  and 
mind  were  still  a  well-matched  pair. 

As  this  country  was  then  in  a  disturbed  state, 
the  party  was  supplied  with  sixty  rifles.  '  But  it  is 
pleasant  to  be  able  to  state  that  not  a  single  hostile 
shot  was  fired;  that  nothing  but  the  kindest  and 
pleasantest  relations  existed  between  ourselves  and 
the  native  people,  not  only  at  the  station  but  at  all 


238  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

the  different  points  on  the  route  to  Machakos  and 
back ;  and  that  probably  no  caravan  has  passed  into 
the  country  against  which  there  have  been  so  small 
a  number  of  complaints  made.  .  .  .  The  mission 
has  already  won  the  confidence  of  the  people,  and 
the  most  friendly  relations  exist  between  us  and 
them.  They  are  being  taught  by  what  they  see, 
as  well  as  by  what  they  hear,  and  by  what  they  are 
taught  to  do,  as  well  as  what  they  are  asked  to 
believe.  The  gospel  of  kindness  and  of  honest  work 
— both  new  ideas  to  them — are  helping  to  open 
their  minds  and  their  hearts  for  the  reception  of  the 
chief  message — the  Gospel  of  God's  love  and  the 
news  of  His  forgiveness  to  men.  People  do  not 
readily  receive  a  message  if  they  are  suspicious  of 
the  messengers,  and  unable  satisfactorily  to  account 
for  their  presence  among  them.  Many  of  these 
people  think,  and  will  continue  for  some  time  to 
think,  that  we  have  come  for  some  reason  totally 
different  from  the  professed  one.  Time  and  their 
own  conclusions  as  to  what  they  see  will  efface  that 
idea.  .  .  .  The  formation  of  strong  educational  and 
evangelistic  centres  in  contradistinction  to  solitary 
and  scattered  stations,  or  rather  in  addition  to  them, 
was  the  conclusion  reached  by  Mackay  of  Uganda 
after  fourteen  years  of  toil,  sorrow,  and  disappoint- 
ment, and  was  the  new  plan  he  had  resolved  to 
begin.  This  was  his  last  utterance  to  the  Committee 
of  the  Church  Missionary  Society  as  to  the  method 
he  desired  to  be  followed.  It  seemed  to  him  to 
afford  some  hope  of  dealing  with  what  he  calls  "  the 
gigantic  problem  of  how  to  Christianise  Africa,"  and 
a  full  statement  of  his  views  will  be  lound  in  one 
of  the  closing  chapters  of  his  life.  It  is  also  the 
method  that  has  been   followed  for  some  time   in 


AN  INFLUENTIAL  BYWORK  239 

South  Africa,  and  has  been  found  to  answer.  On 
these  lines  the  present  mission  was  at  first  organised, 
and  there  is  nothing  further  to  offer  in  the  way  of 
general  recommendation  than  to  fill  in  the  details, 
and  the  result  will  come  if  we  are  not  in  too  great 
a  hurry.' 

The  organising  of  this  East  African  Mission 
occupied  Stewart  for  fully  fourteen  months,  and  was 
a  bywork,  or  an  'aside'  in  his  career,  important 
though  it  was.  It  was  the  last  of  his  picturesque 
missionary  enterprises.  But  he  was  ready  if  his 
Church  asked  him,  to  play  the  pioneer  again,  even  in 
his  sixty-eighth  year.  In  his  address  to  the  General 
Assembly  of  his  Church,  when  he  was  pleading  for 
a  great  forward  movement  in  Foreign  Missions,  he 
said,  '  If  the  Free  Church  public  and  the  Committee 
approve,  and  after  full  consideration  agree  to  launch 
out  on  this  new  course,  /  am  willing  to  go  and  see 
such  points  taken  possession  of  and  the  work 
commenced.' 

This  mission  was  offered  first  to  the  Free  Church 
of  Scotland,  but  they  did  not  see  their  way  to  accept 
it  on  the  conditions  proposed.  It  was  then  offered 
to,  and  adopted  by,  the  Established  Church  of  Scot- 
land. Owing  to  a  mysterious  subsidence  of  the 
soil,  caused  by  an  earthquake,  the  headquarters  were 
removed  in  1898  further  inland  to  Kikuyu,  which  is 
about  half-way  between  Mombasa  and  Lake  Victoria 
Nyanza.i  The  Rev.  D.  C.  Ruffell  Scott,  D.D., 
laboured  with  fervent  zeal  as  the  head  of  the  mission. 
His  death  last  year  was  a  great  loss  to  the  Church 
of  Christ  in  Central  Africa. 

^  Stewart  went  up  as  far  as  Kikuyu,  and  would  have  chosen  it  as 
the  best  site.  But  the  villages  there  had  been  recently  burnt  down, 
and  the  inhabitants  had  fled. 


240  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

The  district  around  this  mission  is  one  of  the  most 
fertile  in  East  Africa,  and  is  well  fitted  for  the 
rearing  of  sheep  and  cattle.  It  also  abounds  with 
game.  The  railway  to  Victoria  Nyanza  passes 
through  it.  The  lions  carried  off  twenty-two  of  the 
men  who  were  working  on  the  railway ;  indeed,  they 
even  carried  off  a  railway  official  out  of  his  carriage. 
One  can  now  travel  there  as  luxuriously  and  safely 
as  at  home.  The  climate  suits  Europeans,  many  of 
whom  are  now  settling  in  the  country. 

Dr.  Robertson  of  Whittinghame,  writes  : — '  I  send 
you  a  few  extracts  from  the  Diary  kept  by  the  late 
Rev.  Thomas  Watson,  M.A.,  who  was  one  of  the  staff 
of  the  mission  from  the  first. 

'  6///  March. — Dr.  Stewart  preached  this  forenoon 
from  "  Thou  shalt  remember  all  the  way  by  which 
the  Lord  thy  God  hath  led  thee."  His  last  Sunday 
with  us. 

'  Zth  March. — General  meeting  at  lo  A.M.  Dr. 
Stewart's  parting  address.  He  frankly  expressed 
regret  for  any  mistakes  he  might  have  made — gave 
thanks  to  God  for  blessings  of  health  and  guidance 
and  freedom  from  accident,  and  expressed  hopes  for 
future  success.  He  gave  me  good  advice  for  the 
future,  the  sum  of  which  might  be  generalised  thus  : 
Work  humbly,  patiently,  perseveringly,  mindful  of 
what  it  is  that  alone  will  appear  valuable  and  give 
satisfaction  at  the  close  of  life.  Strive  to  be  a  trusted 
man  rather  than  a  popular  man.  Keep  up  the  forms 
of  a  religious  life,  even  if  you  do  it  alone.  In  teach- 
ing and  preaching  be  brief,  be  simple;  remember 
that  in  the  mind  of  the  native  there  are  but  few  ideas 
and  very  little  power  of  sustaining  attention.  In 
your  relations  to  your  fellow-workers  be  sincere  and 
frank ;  if  trouble  arises,  calmly  and  fully  give  and 


THE  MISSIONARY  MOTIVE  241 

seek  such  explanation  as  will  in  all  likelihood  clear 
it  away. 

'  \oth  March. — We  held  our  last  prayer-meeting 
with  Dr.  Stewart  about  dusk.  About  i  P.M.  we  held 
a  farewell  meeting  in  which  both  Dr.  Stewart  and  I 
took  part.' 

Dr.  Robertson  adds :  *  I  remember  once  being 
struck,  in  conversation  with  Dr.  Stewart,  by  the 
strong  belief  he  showed  that  the  motive  in  founding 
a  mission  is  decisive  of  its  ultimate  success.  Nobil- 
ity and  purity  of  motive,  he  had  evidently  found  in 
the  experience  of  life,  a  sure  prophecy  of  the  Divine 
blessing.  ...  It  will  be  understood  then  that  we  of 
the  Church  of  Scotland  to  whom  that  mission  has 
been  transferred,  cherish  the  memory  of  those  who 
endowed  it,  and  of  those  who,  in  the  course  of  their 
hard  labour,  suffered  and  died  for  it.  Earliest  among 
these  names  of  honour  we  place  that  of  Dr.  Stewart 
of  Lovedale.  He  and  those  who  followed  after — 
most  of  them  now  gone  to  their  reward — laid  the 
spiritual  foundation  on  which  we  now  build.' 


CHAPTER    XXIV 

THE   CHAMPION   OF   MISSIONS 

A  Skilful  Advocate  — Concessions  and  Distinctions — The 
Finality  of  Facts— The  African  Native  Affairs  Commis- 
sion— A  Remarkable  Testimony — The  Evidence  of  Ex- 
perts— Charles  Darwin  on  Missions. 

'  In  these  (Christian)  Islands  they  will  cook  for  us ;  in  the  others  they 
would  cook  MS.'— Henry  Drummond  on  his  Visit  to  the  South  Sea  Islands. 

'  Moderator,  rax  me  that  Bible.' — Dr.  Erskine,  when  the  General  As- 
sembly of  the  Church  of  Scotla?id  in  1796  was  about  to  vole  against 
Foreign  Missions. 

'  He  that  has  bread  is  debtor  to  him  that  has  none.' — Arab  Proverb. 

'  We  are  like  a  rich  family  at  whose  door  a  foundling  has  been  laid. 
The  foundling  is  heathendom.  It  is  laid  at  the  door  of  those  believed  to 
be  generous." — Fram  a  Missionary  Address. 

'  "  Talk  of  Little  Englanders  "  1  Are  they  not  "  Little  Christians"  who 
vote  against  carrying  Christianity  to  other  races? ' —  IVelsh's  '  The  Challenge 
to  Christian  Missions.' 

In  the  winter  of  1892-93  Stewart  gave  a  course  of 
lectures  on  Evangelistic  Theology  to  the  Divinity 
students  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland  in  Edin- 
burgh, Glasgow,  and  Aberdeen.  In  April  1893  he 
received  the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity 
from  the  University  of  Glasgow.  The  following 
statement  was  then  made :  '  Dr.  Stewart  is  promin- 
ently associated  with  various  perilous  enterprises  of 
African  travel,  and  with  the  establishment  of  other 
missionary  and  civilising  agencies  in  that  continent ; 

242 


A  TARGET  FOR  THE  CRITICS  243 

but  it  is  with  special  reference  to  the  great  work 
which  he  has  pursued  at  Lovedale  so  long  with  stead- 
fast faith  and  unfailing  energy,  and  of  which  he  has 
prepared  some  years  ago  a  modest  record  in  Lovedale, 
Past  and  Present,  that  the  Senatus  welcome  the 
opportunity  afforded  by  his  presence  in  this  country 
of  offering  him  this  honorary  degree.' 

The  years  from  1893  to  1899  ^^^^  us  across  an- 
other level  stretch  in  his  life,  where  no  prominent 
historic  milestones  arrest  the  eye.  We  may  there- 
fore now  consider  some  of  the  great  public  questions 
apart  from  which  we  cannot  understand  him,  and 
which  cannot  be  understood  apart  from  him.  These 
questions,  though  all  closely  related,  yet  lend  them- 
selves to  a  separate  treatment. 

It  is  surprising  that  it  is  necessary  to  defend 
missions  to  the  heathen,  but  South  Africa  still  sup- 
plies some  of  the  most  determined  opponents  ol 
missions  in  the  world.  As  Lovedale  was  the  largest 
and  best-known  missionary  centre  in  the  land,  it 
offered  a  broad  target  to  the  arrows  of  adverse 
criticism.  It  thus  fell  to  Stewart  to  champion 
missions  by  speech  and  pen,  as  well  as  by  his  very 
successful  efforts.  One  wonders  greatly  how  he 
found  time  to  employ  the  Press  as  much  as  he  did. 
An  eager,  watchful  student  of  public  opinion,  he 
seized  every  opportunity  of  commending  his  cause 
when  it  was  assailed.  He  utilised  passing  phases  of 
native  and  missionary  questions  for  the  enforcement 
of  permanent  principles.  Practice  had  taught  him 
how  to  turn  the  remnant  of  the  hurricane  of  opposi- 
tion into  a  favouring  gale  that  sped  him  on  to  the 
harbour. 

His  wisdom  appeared  in  what  he  did  not  do.  He 
did  not  flash  his  light  in  the  eyes  of  others,  but  he 


244  STEWART  OF  LOVE  DALE 

practised  great  self-restraint,  though  the  common 
objections  he  had  to  combat  were  extremely  ignor- 
ant and  provoking.  You  meet  many  in  South  Africa 
who  tell  you  with  a  parrot-like  poverty  of  language, 
'that  missions  spoil  the  native ;  that  the  heathen  are 
best  left  alone;  that  the  raw  Kafir  is  far  better  than 
the  Christian ;  that  Lovedale  boys  are  a  bad  lot ;  I 
have  been  many  years  in  the  country,  I  know  all 
about  it.'  The  mission  Kafir  is  spoiled  for  those 
who  wish  to  exploit  him.  He  has  now  a  notion  of 
his  rights,  and  of  the  laws  which  protect  him.  He 
cannot  be  sjamboked  with  impunity.  Some  say 
that  a  raw  Kafir  is  better  than  a  Christian  Kafir. 
But  the  raw  Kafir  is  better  than  many  white  men. 
Yet  because  of  that  fact  no  one  proposes  to  teach 
white  men  the  Kafir  creed. 

South  of  the  Zambesi  there  are  about  500,000 
adult  whites,  every  one  of  whom  is  a  missionary  and 
a  teacher  of  good  or  evil.  There  are  also  about 
1000  missionaries.  You  have  thus  one  professional 
missionary  for  every  five  hundred  non-professional 
missionaries.  Is  it  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the 
one  missionary  is  more  responsible  for  the  anti-white 
feeling  and  evil  habits  of  the  natives  than  are  the  five 
hundred  whites  by  his  side,  many  of  whom  do  not 
set  a  good  example?  The  raw  Kafir  in  his  native 
state  is  very  courteous  and  polite,  but  he  loses  these 
good  qualities  when  he  goes  to  the  towns  and  the 
mines.  Why?  When  under  the  exclusive  influence 
of  the  missionary,  his  politeness  often  develops  into 
a  complete  devotion  to  the  white  man.  This  was 
the  experience  of  Livingstone,  Moffat,  Mackenzie, 
Coillard,  and  many  others.  How  can  we  account  for 
these  facts?  May  it  not  be  that  the  harsh  critics 
of  missions  are  angry  because  they  cannot  use  the 


'THE  CURSE  OF  EDUCATION'  245 

educated  native  as  a  cheap  tool,  and  then  discharge 
their  anger  upon  the  missionaries  ? 

Many  blame  the  missionaries  for  over-educating 
the  natives,  forgetting  that  nearly  all  mission-schools 
are  aided  by  the  Government,  which  has  fixed  by  law 
the  standard  of  education.  '  Education,'  says  a 
South  African  journalist,  '  is  the  greatest  curse  that 
could  have  overtaken  the  native.'  For  that  curse 
the  Government  is  responsible. 

Stewart  might  have  cut  the  controversy  short  by 
quoting  Christ's  last  command,  and  intimating  that 
to  oppose  missions  is  flatly  to  deny  the  faith :  that 
objections  to  missions  are  objections  to  Christ  and 
His  apostles.  The  Bible  tells  us  hundreds  of  times 
that  our  faith  is,  as  the  hymn  puts  it,  '  to  spread  from 
pole  to  pole.'  Or  he  might  have  pointed  out  that  the 
evil  lives  of  many  white  men,  whose  Christianity  could 
not  endure  exportation  from  home,  disqualified  them 
as  judges,  and  robbed  their  objections  of  all  force. 
When  I  mentioned  that  he  had  not  done  so  in  any 
of  his  books,  he  smiled  and  said  that  he  had  pur- 
posely refrained  from  such  home-thrusts.  He  might 
have  said  that  geographical  neighbourhood  did  not 
necessarily  imply  any  knowledge  of  facts,  as  one  might 
be  as  ignorant  of  things  around  him  as  if  he  had 
spent  all  his  life  in  a  lighthouse  or  on  another  planet.^ 

Aware  that  truth  often  suffers  more  by  the  heat 
of  its  exponents  than  from  the  arguments  of  its 
opposers,  and  that  intemperate  truth  is  often  as 
harmful  as  error,  he  gained  his  case  by  his  modera- 

'  In  a  Scottish  fishing-village,  there  was  a  conversation  lately  about 
whales  appearing  in  the  Bay.  A  visitor  said  that  he  had  been  afraid 
that  his  boat  would  be  upset  by  one  that  came  very  near  him.  A  fisher- 
man added  that  his  sails  had  often  been  drenched  by  the  spouting  of  the 
whales.  The  brother  of  that  fisherman,  a  landsman,  said  that  he  had 
lived  in  the  village  all  his  lite,  and  that  he  had  never  once  seen  a  whale. 


246  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

tion,  tone,  and  concessions.  He  did  not  resent  even 
unreasonable  criticism,  and  frankly  admitted  all  real 
failures  and  mistakes.  He  often  saw,  he  said,  many 
defects  which  his  critics  did  not  see:  his  standard 
and  penetration  were  greater  than  theirs.  He  was 
careful  not  to  lose  his  temper  or  give  advice  scalding 
hot.  His  aim  was  not  to  silence  but  to  satisfy,  and, 
if  possible,  to  win  the  objector.  As  a  wise  advocate, 
he  often  entered  in  at  his  opponent's  door  and 
brought  him  out  at  his  own.  And  when  he  did 
succeed,  he  was  careful  not  to  degrade  his  victory 
into  a  triumph.  He  might  have  made  his  own  the 
fine  French  saying, '  I  love  victory,  but  I  do  not  love 
triumph,' 

Having  thus  created  the  proper  atmosphere  for 
the  discussion  of  the  question,  he  quietly  made  the 
needful  distinctions.  To  attend  the  mission  and  wear 
European  clothes  did  not  make  the  Kafir  a  Christian. 
To  associate  with  Christian  men,  and  take  on  a 
veneer  or  top-dressing  of  civilisation,  cannot  make 
a  man  a  Christian.  Do  white  men  always  apply  to 
themselves  the  very  high  standard  by  which  they 
judge  and  condemn  the  natives  ?  Then,  what  about 
the  youths  who  come  out  of  the  best  schools  and 
colleges  in  Christian  lands?  Are  they  all  genuine 
Christians,  or  the  majority  of  them  ?  What  has  been 
written  by  the  friends  of  these  favoured  institutions 
— for  example,  by  Benson  in  his  Upton  Letters — 
should  silence  the  severe  critics  of  mission  scholars. 
It  should  not  surprise  us  that  many  trousered  natives 
represent  the  '  blotting-paper  of  civilisation,'  having 
received  only  an  external,  blurred,  and  blackened 
outline  of  our  religion. 

Moreover,  he  was  a  profound  believer  in  the 
finality  of  facts.     His  plan  was  not  directly  to  con- 


THE  CAREERS  OF  LOVEDALE  PUPILS     247 

tradict  or  to  oppose  opinion  to  opinion,  but  to 
give  the  facts  and  ask  people  to  draw  their  own 
inferences.  Our  Antaeus  conquered  because  the 
anti-missionary  Hercules  could  not  lift  him  from 
the  ground  of  fact. 

In  Lovedale,  Past  and  Present,  published  in  1887, 
he  used  his  favourite  method  with  great  success.  A 
more  remarkable  and  effective  defence  of  missions 
has  probably  never  been  published.  It  is  on  a  grand 
scale  and  thorough. 

The  introduction  is  written  in  a  tone  fitted  to 
propitiate  the  sceptic.  A  great  effort  is  made  to 
be  perfectly  fair  to  objectors.  Here  is  a  simple 
register  of  nearly  all  the  pupils  of  Lovedale  up  to 
date.  '  This  register  is  offered  as  our  reply.  It  is 
a  simple  record  of  facts ' — '  a  veritable  fact  heap/ 
as  one  called  it. 

The  register  contains  the  names  and  brief  bio- 
graphical notices  of  400  male  pupils  on  the  Europeans' 
Roll,  and  2058  on  the  Native  Roll.  The  analysis  of 
the  Native  Roll  shows — 

16  Ministers  or  Missionaries. 
20  Evangelists. 
251  Male  Teachers. 
158  Female  Teachers. 
6  Law  Agents. 
3  Journalists. 
202  Agricultural  Workers  on  their  own  land. 
26  Telegraphists. 
15  who  have  relapsed  into  open  heathenism. 

He  used  to  tell  that  only  three  per  cent,  of  his 
pupils  had  been  brought  before  a  magistrate  for  break- 
ing the  law.  He  would  then  ask — '  Can  Oxford  do 
better  than  that  ?  ' 


248  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

The  crowning  reply  to  antagonists  was  Lovedale. 
There  it  was,  and  its  most  liberal  supporters  were 
shrewd  and  successful  business  men  in  South  Africa, 
who  had  carefully  examined  Lovedale  on  the  spot. 
Several  of  them  were  not  Presbyterians.  They 
supported  the  Institution  with  donations  which 
reached  four  figures,  and  in  one  case  ;^5ooo.  Of 
the  whole  sum  spent  on  Lovedale,  75  per  cent,  was 
provided  by  South  Africa. 

These  2058  native  pupils  were  not  all  who  had 
been  in  Lovedale  up  till  1887.  They  were  only 
those  who  had  been  traced.  During  these  twenty- 
one  years  the  numbers  have  been  growing.  It 
must  be  remembered  that  the  great  majority  of 
these  pupils  occupy  the  most  influential  positions 
among  the  natives,  and  that  they  become  the  leaders 
in  their  several  tribes.  Lovedale  means  all  that. 
In  view  of  these  facts  Major  Malan  wrote  in  his 
farewell  letter  to  Stewart, '  The  attacks  that  Satan 
and  man  make  upon  you  are  only  mosquito  bites  in 
comparison  with  the  blessing  which  the  Lord  sends 
you  in  His  service.     Faint  not.' 

We  can  now  understand  why  an  eminent  South 
African  missionary  has  said  :  '  Dr.  Stewart  is  the 
only  man  of  his  generation  who  has  made  the 
colonists  realise  the  value  of  mission-work  as  worthy 
of  the  best  talents,  and  a  force  to  be  reckoned  with 
by  men  of  all  parties.  .  .  .  There  was  a  time — quite 
recent — in  Africa  when  missions  and  missionaries 
were  held  in  slight  esteem,  not  only  by  natives  for 
whom  men  were  sacrificing  themselves,  but  by 
Europeans  who  looked  more  upon  the  economic  and 
political  issues  than  upon  the  moral  and  religious 
aims  of  missionary  labour.  There  was  a  time  also 
in  South  Africa  when  the  idea  of  Christianising  and 


AN  EPOCH-MAKING  DOCUMENT  249 

civilising  the  native  tribes  was  regarded  as  a  delusion 
of  weak  philanthropists  and  visionaries.  The  man 
who  overthrew  these  notions  was  Dr.  Stewart.  He 
made  mission-work  a  force  to  be  reckoned  with  in 
the  political  and  religious  as  well  as  in  the  economic 
sphere,  and  what  of  status  and  respect  missions  and 
missionary  labour  have  in  Africa  among  statesmen, 
politicians,  publicists,  and  the  official  class,  is  largely 
the  creation  of  his  work,  his  policy,  and  his  courageous 
determination.' 

South  Africa  itself  has  supplied  the  most  un- 
answerable reply  to  the  African  adversaries  of 
missions.  When  Lord  Milner  left  South  Africa, 
he  generously  expressed  his  regret  that  he  had  not 
done  more  for  the  native  races.  But  he  did  much. 
In  view  of  the  proposed  federation  of  the  six  South 
African  colonies,  he  secured  the  appointment  of  the 
African  Native  Ajfairs  Commission.  It  was  the  most 
competent  tribunal  that  has  ever  examined  this  great 
question.  It  consisted  of  eleven  statesmen  of  repute 
who  represented  all  the  six  divisions  of  South  Africa. 
They  were  all  men  of  great  colonial  experience — 
administrators,  teachers,  traders,  and  farmers.  Not 
one  missionary  was  on  the  Commission.  They  spent 
nearly  two  and  a  half  years  in  collecting  evidence 
from  all  quarters.  They  summoned  many  witnesses 
and  welcomed  all  who  wished  to  be  examined.  They 
asked  no  less  than  45,578  questions,  and  all  the 
questions  and  answers  have  been  printed  in  full  in 
four  enormous  Blue  Books.  In  their  Report,  pub- 
lished in  1905,  they  unanimously  declared  that  the 
natives  must  be  educated  and  civilised  ;  that  the  only 
people  who  have  tried  to  elevate  them  are  the 
missionaries  and  some  Christian  families  ;  and  that 
'hope  for  the  elevation  of  the   native   races   must 


250  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

depend  mainly  on  their  acceptance  of  Christian  faith 
and  morals.  The  weight  of  evidence  is  in  favour 
of  the  improved  morals  of  the  Christian  section  of 
the  population,  and  to  the  effect  that  there  appears 
to  be  in  the  native  mind  no  inherent  incapacity  to 
apprehend  the  truths  of  Christian  teaching  or  to 
adopt  Christian  morals  as  a  standard.'  And  it  is 
added,  '  The  Commission  is  of  opinion  that  regular 
moral  and  religious  instruction  should  be  given  in 
all  native  schools.' 

'  We  have  here  the  strongest  justification  of  the 
missionary  attitude  that  could  be  uttered,  and  it  is 
the  more  striking,  because  it  is  probably  at  variance 
with  the  large  majority  of  (uninstructed)  colonial 
opinion  '  (Colquhoun's  The  Africander  Land). 

It  is  understood  that  the  facts  were  a  revelation  to 
some  of  the  Commissioners,  and  that  their  attitude 
to  missions  has  thereby  been  entirely  changed.  The 
colonist  hostility  to  the  education  of  the  natives  gave 
way  before  the  facts.  It  is  now  generally  admitted 
that  if  the  whites  are  to  make  men  out  of  the  blacks, 
and  a  Europe  out  of  Africa,  it  must  be  by  such 
methods  as  Lovedale  employs. 

One  of  the  Commissioners  has  very  frankly 
avowed  the  impression  made  upon  him  by  the  facts 
presented  to  him.  Here  is  an  extract  from  the 
newspapers : — 

The  Durban  correspondent  of  the  Cape  Tunes 
writes  to  that  paper  on  loth  November,  1905  : — 

'  A  remarkable  address  on  missions  was  given  at 
Verulam  this  week  by  the  Hon.  Marshall  Campbell, 
whose  presence  at  a  missionary  meeting  was  in  itself 
significant.  Two  years  ago,  he  said,  he  would  have 
refused  to  attend.  He  was  one  of  a  commission 
sent  throughout  South  Africa  to  study  the  native 


SURPRISING  CONTRASTS  251 

question,  and  he  had  been  impressed  that  it  was  his 
duty  to  do  all  he  could  to  acknowledge  the  good  and 
noble  work  done  by  missionaries.  He  made  special 
personal  inquiries  of  individuals,  went  through  schools 
and  workshops,  hospitals,  the  Kimberley  mines,  and 
at  all  was  impressed  with  the  excellent  effect  on  the 
natives.  Asking  an  overseer  at  Kimberley  mines 
how  he  liked  these,  "  Kolwas,"  he  replied,  "  They  are 
the  finest  men  we  have — more  intelligent  and  useful 
all-round  men  than  the  others."  Mr.  Campbell  made 
surprise  visits,  and  learned  that  these  educated  boys 
were  the  best-behaved  boys  in  the  camp.  He  made 
a  point  during  the  visit  of  the  British  Association  of 
throwing  into  contrast  raw  natives  with  educated 
ones,  and  he  had  since  repeatedly  received  letters 
stating  that  the  writers  were  so  impressed  that  their 
attitude  regarding  missionary  work  would  be  altered, 
and  they  would  do  all  they  could  to  help  it.  Mr. 
Campbell  closed  his  address  with  reference  to  the 
apathy  of  Government  officials  in  relation  to  the 
best  interests  of  the  natives,  showing  that  Natal  was 
far  behind  the  Cape  in  this  respect,  and  that  unless 
we  did  something  more  for  them,  a  reaping  time 
would  come  for  our  children  or  theirs  terrible  to 
contemplate.' 

The  friends  and  foes  of  missions  alike  need  naked 
facts,  for  these  overthrow  scepticism  and  supply 
the  fuel  that  feeds  the  sacred  fires  of  zeal.  '  I  went 
to  Africa,'  says  Stanley,  the  African  traveller,  '  as 
prejudiced  against  religion  as  the  worst  infidel  in 
London — but  I  was  converted  by  him  (Livingstone), 
although  he  had  not  tried  to  do  it,' 

Alongsideof  Stewart's  moderate  and  restrained  tone 
in  dealing  with  assaults  on  missions,  we  may  place 
some  of  the  methods  adopted  by  other  eminent  men. 


252  STEWART  OF  LOVEDATE 

Sir  Andrew  H.  L.  Fraser,  Lieutenant-Governor  of 
Bengal,  says  :  *  I  have  examined  the  matter  carefully 
in  all  parts  of  India,  and  I  rejoice  in  the  results  of 
mission-work.  The  unfavourable  view  of  the  results 
of  missions  I  do  tell  you  solemnly  is,  I  believe,  due 
to  want  of  interest,  or  want  of  knowledge,  and  the 
first  is  the  greatest  defect  of  all.' 

W.  S.  Caine,  M.P.,  in  his  Picturesque  India,  says 
that  he  found  the  East  swarming  with  half-castes, 
and  also  many  unfriendly  critics  of  missions,  and 
that  he  could  not  help  laying  these  two  facts  along- 
side of  each  other. 

Dr.  Warneck  says :  *  A  great  part  of  the  opposi- 
tion among  men  of  degraded  character  arises  from 
the  check  which  missions  put  upon  the  indulgence 
of  their  baser  passions.' 

The  Earl  of  Selborne,  the  first  Lord  of  the 
Admiralty,  speaking  at  a  recent  meeting  in  Oxford, 
said :  '  I  wish  to  give  you  my  testimony  as  to  the 
general  value  of  mission-work  after  eight  years  in 
the  Colonial  Office  and  the  Admiralty.  I  have  no 
difficulty  in  stating  the  impression  left  on  my  mind, 
and  that  is  the  profound  contempt,  which  I  have  no 
desire  to  disguise,  for  those  who  sneer  at  missions.  If 
a  man  professes  to  be  a  Christian  it  is  absolutely 
impossible  for  him  to  deny  the  necessity  of  the 
existence  of  missions.' 

Captain  Alfred  Bertrand,  the  famous  Swiss  ex- 
plorer and  hunter,  and  author  of  the  magnificent 
book,  Au  Pays  des  Barotsi,  came  upon  the  French 
missionaries  in  Zambesiland.  Till  then  he  had 
taken  no  interest  in  missions.  He  was  surprised 
and  delighted  with  what  he  saw,  and  he  has  since 
devoted  his  time  and  talents  to  the  furtherance  of 
the  French  mission.      He  says:  'Christian  missions 


HOW  PREJUDICES  ARE  ANNIHILATED     253 

constitute  a  power  which  escapes  man's  intelh'gence 
and  analysis ;  they  are  the  continuation  of  the 
apostles'  work ;  and  apart  from  the  subtleties  of 
theology,  they  avail  to  bring  us  back  to  the  true  faith.' 

'  I  had  conceived,'  writes  R.  L.  Stevenson, '  a  great 
prejudice  against  missions  in  the  South  Seas,  and  I 
had  no  sooner  come  there  than  that  prejudice  was 
at  first  reduced  and  then  annihilated.  Those  who 
deblatterate  against  missions  have  only  one  thing  to 
do,  to  come  and  see  them  on  the  spot'  He  adds : 
'The  missionary  is  hampered,  he  is  restricted,  he  is 
negated  by  the  attitude  of  his  fellow-countrymen, 
and  his  fellow-Christians,  in  the  same  island.' 

Mrs.  Isabella  Bird  Bishop  writes :  '  I  am  a  convert 
to  missions  through  seeing  missions  and  the  need 
for  them.' 

Lord  Lawrence,  Viceroy  of  India,  testifies  :  'Not- 
withstanding all  that  the  English  people  have  done 
to  benefit  that  country,  the  missionaries  have  done 
more  than  all  other  agencies  combined.' 

Darwin,  of  the  Origin  of  Species  fame,  is  the 
boldest  of  them  all.  In  his  youth  he  went  round 
the  world  in  H.M.S.  Beagle,  and  he  has  told  the 
story  of  it  in  his  Journal  of  Researches.  He  studied 
missions  as  a  man  of  science.  *  I  assured  them,'  he 
writes, '  that  I  was  a  sort  of  a  Christian.'  He  liked 
to  place  side  by  side  a  heathen  and  a  Christian 
Fuegian.  '  It  was  without  exception  the  most 
curious  and  interesting  spectacle  I  ever  beheld.  I 
could  not  have  believed  how  wide  was  the  difference 
between  savage  and  civilised  man.  It  seems  yet 
wonderful  to  me  when  I  think  over  all  his  (a 
Fuegian  convert's)  many  good  qualities,  that  he 
should  have  been  of  the  same  race,  and  doubtless  have 
partaken  01  the  same  character,  with  the  miserable, 


2  54  STEWART  OF  LOVED  ALE 

degraded  savages  whom  we  first  met  here.  Viewing 
such  men,  one  can  hardly  make  oneself  believe 
that  they  are  fellow-creatures,  and  inhabitants  of  the 
same  world.  The  success  of  the  mission  is  most 
wonderful,  and  charms  me,  as  I  always  prophesied 
utter  failure.  1  could  not  have  believed  that  all 
the  missionaries  in  the  world  could  have  made  the 
Fuegians  honest.  The  mission  is  a  grand  success. 
.  .  .  The  march  of  improvement  consequent  on 
the  introduction  of  Christianity  throughout  the 
South  Seas  probably  stands  by  itself  in  the  records 
of  history.' 

Having  expressed  his  admiration  for  many  of  the 
converts  with  whom  he  spent  some  time,  he  adds : 
'But  it  is  useless  to  argue  against  such  reasoners 
(who  object  to  missions).  I  believe  that,  disappointed 
in  not  finding  the  field  of  licentiousness  so  open  as 
formerly,  they  will  not  give  credit  to  a  morality 
which  they  do  not  wish  to  practise,  or  to  a  religion 
which  they  undervalue  if  not  despise '  (tenth  edition, 
p.  393).  He  adds  :  '  The  lesson  of  the  missionary  is 
the  enchanter's  wand  '  (p.  403).  '  I  never  saw  a 
nicer  or  more  merry  group  (of  mission  children  in 
New  Zealand),  and  to  think  that  this  was  in  the 
centre  of  the  land  of  cannibalism,  murder,  and 
all  atrocious  crimes.  ...  I  took  leave  of  the  mis- 
sionaries with  thankfulness  for  their  kind  welcome, 
and  with  feelings  of  high  respect  for  their  gentleman- 
like, useful,  and  upright  characters.  I  think  it  would 
be  difficult  to  find  a  body  of  men  better  adapted  for 
the  high  office  they  fill.'  ^ 

In  order  to  appreciate  the  changed    attitude   of 

^  Those  who  wish  to  see  this  subject  effectively  handled,  should 
consult  Dr.  Welsh's  The  Challenge  to  Christian  Missions,  and  The 
Missionary  and  his  Critics,  by  the  Rev.  J.  L.  Barton. 


A  MARVELLOUS  REVOLUTION  255 

official  authorities  to  foreign  missions  we  should 
recall  the  words  of  William  Ward,  the  colleague  of 
Carey.  After  an  intense  struggle  during  thirteen 
years,  the  British  missionaries  in  India  were  granted 
passports  in  181 2.  '  We  shall  now  be  tolerated  like 
toads,'  Ward  wrote, '  and  not  hunted  down  like  wild 
beasts.' 

As  such  a  theme  may  dispose  some  to  exaggerate 
the  difference  between  themselves  and  the  heathen, 
we  should  remember  that  there  are  no  sadder  sights 
in  the  world  to-day  than  those  which  are  found  in 
the  great  cities  in  nominally  Christian  lands ;  and 
we  may  fittingly  close  this  chapter  with  the  prayer: 
'  Save  us,  O  God,  from  our  pagan  selves.  Smite  the 
heathen  in  us,  and  exalt  the  Christ' 


CHAPTER    XXV 

THE   APOSTLE   OF   CIVILISATION 

Stewart's  Creed — Civilise  First  ? — Christ's  Methods  of  Civilising 
—  Bishop  Colenso's  Experiment  —  The  Elevation  of 
Woman  —  Mr.  Winston  Churchill  —  A  Great  Object- 
lesson — Some  Testimonies. 

'  This  is  a  very  large  subject,  and  requires  a  very  large  heart  to  grapple 
with  it.' — Dr.  Oust  in  'Africa  Rediviva.' 

'Civilisation  perfected   is  nothing  but  fully-developed  Christianity." — 
Mrs.  Browning. 

'  There  is  but  one  question  of  the  day,  and  that  is  the  Gospel.      It  can 
and  will  correct  everything  needing  correction.' —  IV.  E.  Gladstone. 

'Our  work  at  the  centre  can  easily  reach  the  circumference;  but  if  at 
the  circumference,  it  could  not  so  easily  reach  the  centre.' —  Vinet. 

'  When  a  man  is  Christianised,  he  is  clothed  in  the  very  best  suit  of  the 
best  civilisation  which  the  world  has  yet  seen.' — Dr.  Stewart. 

The  true  method  of  civilisation  was  one  of  the 
questions  Stewart  had  to  consider  and  expound 
during  the  whole  of  his  missionary  life.  People 
were  always  saying  to  the  missionaries :  '  You  go 
about  your  work  in  the  wrong  way  ;  give  the  natives 
time  ;  you  are  in  too  great  a  hurry ;  civilise  first 
and  then  Christianise.'  Upon  no  other  subject  did 
Stewart  speak  with  greater  reiteration,  plainness, 
and  earnestness.  It  received  special  attention  in 
his  opening  address  as  Moderator  of  the  General 
Assembly,  and,  I  believe,  in  every  one  of  his  books. 
He  knew  that  it  lay  at  the  very  heart  of  missionary 


THE  ART  OF  CIVILISING  257 

work  and  methods,  and  also  of  a  man's  conception 
of  the  religion  of  Christ.  His  guiding  idea  was  that 
Christianity  is  the  universal  educator  and  civiliser 
of  heathen  races,  and  that  civilisation  without 
Christianity  never  civilises.  His  creed  is  found  in 
the  following  passages  : — *  As  a  missionary  place,  it 
(Lovedale)  seeks  spiritual  results  as  its  highest  and 
most  permanent  result,  and  as  its  primary  aim.  If 
the  will  and  conscience  is  right,  the  man  will  be 
right.  Its  aim,  therefore,  is  not  to  civilise,  but  to 
Christianise.  Merely  to  civilise  can  never  be  the 
primary  aim  of  the  missionary.  Civilisation  without 
Christianity  among  a  savage  people  is  a  mere 
matter  of  clothes  and  whitewash.  But  among  bar- 
barous races  a  sound  missionary  method  will  in 
every  way  endeavour  to  promote  civilisation  by 
education  and  industry,  resting  on  the  solid  founda- 
tion of  religious  instruction.  Hence  there  is  a 
variety  of  teaching.  .  .  .  To  the  question  often  put : 
"Do  you  civilise  or  Christianise  first?  With  a 
people  in  the  entirely  uncivilised  state,  we  should 
think  the  civilising  process  ought  to  come  first." 
Our  answer  is  always  this :  "  If  possible  we  avoid 
doing  things  twice.  When  a  man  is  Christianised — 
that  is,  when  the  great  change  has  really  taken 
place  in  him — he  is  generally  civilised  as  well ;  or 
he  will  become  more  so  day  by  day.  He  will 
appear  clothed,  and  in  his  right  mind,  and  the 
change  will  continue."  The  theory  of  improving 
the  African  anywhere  through  all  the  wide  area  in 
which  he  dwells,  by  commerce  or  civilisation  only, 
is  a  very  surprising  one.  What  is  there  in  either 
the  one  or  the  other,  by  itself,  to  morally  improve  a 
savage,  except  to  sharpen  his  wits  and  make  him 
more   cunning  and    overbearing,   and    supply   him 

R 


258  STEWART  OF  LOVE  DALE 

more  abundantly  with  materials  for  a  more  animal 
kind  of  life?  Civilisation,  that  "complex  entity," 
so  difficult  to  define,  has  to  do  with  the  present  life. 
It  is  a  gift  of  God  as  well  as  a  result  of  man's 
activity,  and,  like  all  his  other  gifts,  may  be  used 
for  good  or  evil,  to  rise  higher  or  sink  lower,  accord- 
ing as  it  is  accompanied  or  not  by  moral  influence. 
But  by  itself  for  moral  purposes,  as  every  missionary 
knows,  it  is  pointless  and  powerless  ;  and  to  primi- 
tive races  by  itself  is  a  dangerous  gift.  The  one 
hope  for  a  better  and  happier  future  for  Africa,  and 
for  its  progress  in  true  civilisation,  is  via  Christianity. 
If  there  is  no  hope  this  way,  there  is  no  hope  any 
way,  for  the  African  continent.  The  same  is  equally 
true  of  the  rest  of  the  world,  whether  civilised  or 
not.  It  is  the  moral  element  and  not  the  material 
which  forms  the  chief  part  of  man's  happiness  and 
well-being,  whatever  be  the  colour  of  skin  or  the 
clime  in  which  he  dwells. 

'  The  evolutionist  wants  aeons  for  his  process.  The 
missionary  can  do  with  less.  In  morals,  as  in 
mechanics,  the  intensity  of  the  factor  diminishes  the 
necessity  for  time.  The  tremendous  chasm  between 
fetishism  and  Christianity  is  seen  to  be  passed  at  a 
single  bound  in  the  lifetime  of  an  individual. 

*  The  coming  King  of  this  earth  is  Jesus  Christ. 
He  is  the  world's  larger  hope.  The  hope  of  a  better 
and  happier  day  does  not  lie  in  social  panaceas,  or  in 
dreams  about  equality  in  a  world  where  no  two  men 
are,  or  remain,  equal  for  a  single  day,  nor  in  whole- 
sale distribution  of  the  hard-won  fruits  of  honest 
industry  among  the  lazy  and  dishonest.  These  are 
the  remedies  of  a  well-intentioned,  but  badly  in- 
structed, and  sometimes  slightly  crazy,  benevolence. 
These    ill-regulated    remedies    only    make    matters 


FROM  WITHIN  OUTWARDS  259 

worse.  They  are  the  falsehood  of  extremes,  and  the 
exaggerations  of  human  thinking  applied  to  those 
everlasting  truths  which  fell  from  the  lips  of  the 
Greatest  Human  Teacher.  The  little  grain  of  truth 
they  contain  has  been  stolen  from  Christianity  itself 
A  saner  spirit,  and  a  more  robust  common-sense,  and 
a  sounder  interpretation  of  what  Christ  has  taught, 
and  above  all,  the  practice  and  the  spirit  of  these 
teachings,  must  come  first. 

*  There  is  no  denying  the  fact  that  the  Christian 
missionary  has  been  the  real  pioneer  of  civilisation 
in  Africa. 

'What  is  needed  for  that  vast  continent  is  a 
Christian  civilisation,  not  a  non-Christian  one  with 
the  seven  devils  of  the  vices  of  modern  civilisation 
entering  the  house,  and  making  the  latter  end  worse 
than  the  beginning.  Of  that  great  problem  the 
question  is :  How  is  the  change  from  African  bar- 
barism to  modern  civilisation  to  be  safely  brought 
about?  The  answer  is,  just  as  with  all  permanent 
moral  changes  in  the  individual — by  changing  him 
within  ;  and  for  this,  so  far  as  Africa's  fate  and  future 
are  concerned,  there  is  no  power  in  the  world  except 
the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ.  Commerce  cannot  do 
it;  civilisation  cannot  do  it;  science  cannot  do  it; 
none  of  these  powers  want  to  do  it  even  if  they 
could.  That  is  not  in  their  line.  Islam  cannot  do 
it.  The  chief  feature  and  the  invariable  and  inevit- 
able results  of  Islam  are  despotic  government,  the 
degradation  of  woman,  and  the  sanctioning  of 
slavery.' 

This  was  one  of  the  subjects  which  he  had 
thoroughly  studied  and  about  which  he  had  read 
extensively.  The  treatment  of  it  in  Benjamin  Kidd's 
Social  Evolution  commended  itself  to  him.     Japan, 


26o  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

he  is  aware,  may  be  quoted  in  opposition  to  his  con- 
tention that  Christianity  is  the  universal  civiliser. 
'Japan  may  seem  to  be  an  exception,'  he  writes. 
'  Its  progress  during  fifty  years  has  perhaps  been 
unparalleled  ;  but  that  has  been  gained  by  borrow- 
ing the  products  of  a  civilisation  that  is  Western  and 
Christian.'  The  gospel  of  work  and  the  gospel  of 
commerce,  he  admits,  are  both  excellent  and  neces- 
sary, and  where  humanely  and  lawfully  tried,  they 
have  produced  very  beneficial  results,  but  by  them- 
selves they  cannot  supply  what  is  needed.  Every- 
where missionaries  have  been  the  advance  agents  of 
true  civilisation. 

All  will  admit  that  heathen  races  can  be  rescued 
from  their  degradation  only  by  the  aid  of  the  more 
favoured  nations.  Niebuhr  says  that  all  the  immense 
and  varied  research  of  our  age  with  respect  to  the 
origins  of  civilisation,  has  discovered  no  single  savage 
race  which  has  risen  to  civilisation  apart  from  help 
from  without. 

The  theory  that  we  must  civilise  the  rudest  nations 
before  we  can  hope  to  Christianise  them  seems  very 
reasonable  in  some  moods  of  the  mind.  '  First  that 
which  is  natural  and  then  that  which  is  spiritual,' 
looks  like  a  self-evident  truth.  But  there  are  two 
objections  to  this  theory :  it  cuts  the  sinews  of 
missionary  endeavour,  and  it  is  in  conflict  with  all 
the  essential  facts  of  the  case.  During  the  last  nine- 
teen centuries  countless  experiments  have  been  made 
in  every  land  and  class,  and  the  ample  pages  of 
sacred  and  secular  history  record  the  results.  The 
endeavour  to  produce  supernatural  results  by  natural 
means  is  a  complete  failure.  Civilisation  without 
Christianity  only  teaches  the  black  man  to  add  the 
white  man's  vices  to  his  own.    '  Darkest  Africa,'  says 


I  I.N  GO    WOMEN 


THE  ORIGINS  OF  CIVILISATION  261 

Captain  Hore,  R.N.,  of  Tanganyika,  'is  where  the 
white  man  has  longest  been.' 

Christ's  public  ministry  was  less  than  three  years, 
and  the  social  conditions  around  Him  were  extremely 
unfavourable.  The  masses  of  the  people  were  in- 
credibly poor,  and  under  an  alien  and  cruel  tyranny. 
Did  He  delay  His  spiritual  work  till  these  conditions 
had  been  improved  ?  No  :  He  began  at  once  in  the 
worst  possible  social  conditions.  He  began  with  the 
individual  and  with  the  soul,  and  wrought  from 
within  outwards.  Did  He  send  forth  His  apostles 
to  civilise  first  and  then  to  evangelise?  Students 
know  that  the  condition  of  the  heathen  cities  then 
was  so  bad  that  the  whole  truth  about  them  cannot 
be  told.  Did  Paul  and  his  comrades  delay  their 
spiritual  work  on  that  account?  Did  they  believe 
that  the  ground  had  to  be  prepared  before  they 
could  teach  a  spiritual  creed  ?  Of  all  the  degraded 
and  seemingly  hopeless  people  in  that  degraded  age, 
the  slaves  were  the  very  worst.  What  method  did 
Paul  adopt  with  the  slave  and  the  criminal  Onesimus? 

How  did  civilisation  come  to  the  heathen  nations 
of  Europe  ?  Consider  what  Europe  was  two  thou- 
sand years  ago.  Great  Britain  then  was  probably 
as  savage  as  Africa  is  to-day.  Consult,  for  instance, 
Montalembert's  Monks  of  the  West.  How  were 
Stewart's  forefathers  civilised  by  Columba  and  his 
monks?  Is  not  civilisation  in  the  modern  world 
demonstrably  a  part  of  the  Gesta  Christi?  Heat  is 
not  more  an  effect  of  the  sun  than  modern  humanity 
is  the  creation  of  Christ.  Civilisation  is  only  a 
secular  name  for  Christianity. 

But  have  the  critics  of  missions  ever  attempted  to 
civilise  the  heathen  ?  Have  they  ever  shown  the 
missionary  what  they  believe  to  be  the  right  way? 


262  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

Is  there  any  spot  on  earth's  surface  where  civilisation 
came  first,  and  gradually  developed  into  Christianity? 
The  South  African  Native  Affairs  Commission  spent 
two  years  of  very  diligent  search,  and  in  all  South 
Africa  they  did  not  find  one  such  spot.  All  the 
civilising  influences  they  discovered  came  from  the 
missionaries  and  Christian  households,  '  I  have  had 
twenty-one  years  of  experience  among  natives.  I 
have  lived  with  the  Christian  native,  and  dined,  and 
slept  with  cannibals.  But  I  have  never  yet  met  with 
a  single  man  or  woman,  or  with  a  single  people,  that 
civilisation  without  Christianity  has  civilised.'  All 
missionaries  would  endorse  this  testimony  of  James 
Chalmers  of  New  Guinea. 

This  quest  for  a  civilisation  before,  and  as  a  pre- 
paration for,  Christianity,  was  made  with  wonderful 
thoroughness  by  Dr.  F.  Percy  Noble,  the  author  of 
Xhe  Redemption  of  Africa.  Dr.  Noble,  a  Government 
official  in  Washington,  desired  to  write  a  book  on 
civilisation  in  Africa.  He  soon  found,  to  his  sur- 
prise, that  everywhere  civilisation  was  the  undoubted 
product  of  Christian  missions.  He  seems  to  have 
read  every  book  on  the  subject.  He  consulted  no 
less  than  343  authorities,  of  which  283  are  missionary. 
Thus,  while  wishing  to  trace  the  progress  of  civilisa- 
tion, his  book  became  a  history  of  African  missions.^ 

We  havj  asked.  Has  any  man  seriously  attempted 
to  civilise  savages  with  a  view  to  their  ultimate 
Christianisation  ?  Yes :  one  man  has  made  the 
experiment  in  a  very  thorough  and  scientific  fashion. 
Dr.  Noble  records  the  result  in  The  Redemption  of 

1  Dr.  Noble  says  that  the  American  ploughs  sold  in  1899  iri  Zululand 
brought  more  money  than  it  cost  to  sustain  the  Zulu  Mission  (p.  712). 
It  is  said  that  for  every j^i  that  goes  over  the  Kei  for  missions,  ;^loo 
comes  back  to  benefit  colonial  commerce. 


A  WONDERFUL  EXPERIMENT  263 

Africa  (p.  576).  *  Bishop  Colenso  selected  twelve 
boys  from  the  superior  race  of  the  Zulus.  He 
pledged  himself  that  he  would  give  them  no 
religious  education.  He  conscientiously  and  per- 
sistently devoted  himself  to  their  intellectual  educa- 
tion and  industrial  training.  He  had  them  inden- 
tured as  apprentices  for  several  years.'  Here  we 
have  all  the  conditions  demanded  for  a  thorough 
scientific  experiment.  The  susceptible  Africans 
made  rapid  progress.  At  last,  when  the  Bishop 
thought  they  were  civilised,  he  set  them  free.  He 
told  them  that  all  their  training  was  preliminary  and 
incomplete  without  their  acceptance  of  Jesus  Christ 
as  their  personal  saviour,  and  of  His  Gospel  as  the 
rule  of  their  lives.  He  appealed  to  them  to  receive 
his  religious  instruction.  Next  morning  every  man 
had  gone  back  to  the  red  blanket  and  to  native  life. 
Their  only  gratitude  was  to  leave  behind  the 
European  clothes  with  which  they  had  been  fur- 
nished. Colenso  went  to  the  American  missionaries 
in  his  neighbourhood  who  wished  to  reach  civilisa- 
tion via  Christianity,  gave  them  a  donation  of  ;^50, 
and  said,  '  You  are  right.  I  was  wrong.'  This 
experiment  was  made  at  a  station,  the  native  name 
of  which  means  the  '  Palace  of  Light.'  Without 
Christianity  no  advance  is  possible  on  the  path  of 
true  civilisation.  The  improvement  of  the  soul  is 
the  soul  of  all  real  improvement.  Is  it  not  one  of 
the  greatest  historical  facts  that  religion  has  usually 
blazed  its  own  way  heedless  of  economic  conditions? 
'  Build  in  the  spirit  first,  then  from  that  to  the  flesh. 
This  is,  I  believe,  the  spirit  of  every  true  missionary.' 
So  says  Mackay,  the  '  St.  Paul  of  Uganda.' 

*  The  raising  of  the  Bantu  races  to  a  higher  level 
can    only    be    done    very    gradually — it    will    take 


264  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

generations,'  writes  a  friend  of  native  education.  If 
he  means  all  the  Bantu  race,  he  is  right.  But  what 
of  the  Basutos?  What  of  Uganda?  What  of 
Livingstonia?  What  of  men  like  King  Khama,  the 
Rev.  Tiyo  Soga,  and  many  others,  who  in  less  than 
one  generation  have,  through  the  divine  dynamics  of 
the  Gospel,  risen  to  as  noble  a  civilisation  as  is  found 
in  the  most  cultured  races  of  Europe  and  America? 
The  Gospel  that  turned  into  Christians  our  Celtic 
and  Saxon  forebears,  has  no  new  thing  to  do  in 
elevating  the  Africans.  Here  is  Livingstone's  opinion : 
'  We  do  not  believe  in  any  incapacity  of  the  African 
in  either  mind  or  heart.  We  have  seen  nothing  to 
justify  the  notion  that  they  are  of  a  different  breed 
or  species  from  the  most  civilised.  The  African  is  a 
man  with  every  attribute  of  humankind.  I  have  no 
fears  as  to  the  mental  and  moral  capacity  of  the 
Africans  for  civilisation  and  upward  progress.  ...  I 
believe  them  to  be  capable  of  holding  an  honourable 
rank  in  the  family  of  man.' 

If  the  results  are  disappointing  in  many  quarters, 
we  should  remember  how  long  it  took  to  civilise  our 
own  race,  and  how  many  in  it  are  not  civilised  yet. 
A  working  hope  of  the  civilisation  of  the  native 
races  is  found  only  in  alliance  with  a  living  apostolic 
faith.  Other  interpretations  of  Christianity  do  not 
succeed  in  this  work,  and  usually  do  not  even 
attempt  it.  A  living  faith  pours  the  healing  salt 
into  the  spring  of  the  waters,  while  other  agencies 
seek  to  purify  only  the  streams. 

The  test  of  civilisation  is  the  condition  of  woman 
in  a  land  where  she  has  been  regarded  as  a  thing 
rather  than  a  person,  a  chattel,  an  instrument,  and, 
along  with  cattle,  the  chief  wealth  of  the  tribe. 
'  There  is  growing  up '  (as  the  fruit  of  missions),  the 


A  NEW  WORLD  265 

Native  Affairs  Commission  reports,  '  an  ever  increas- 
ing number  of  self-respecting  native  women  who  are 
learning  to  understand  the  freedom  which  has  come 
to  them  and  are  careful  not  to  abuse  its  privileges. 
Improvement  in  the  position  and  treatment  of 
women  has  been  brought  about  by  the  influence  of 
Christian  and  civilised  views  on  the  marriage  ques- 
tion, and  the  labour  of  women  has  been  much 
lightened  by  the  introduction  of  the  plough  and 
other  appliances.'  '  The  Gospel  is  written  on  the 
land  by  the  plough,'  says  a  visitor,  '  and  in  the  faces 
of  the  women  and  children.  The  very  dogs  know 
the  benefits  of  Christianity.' 

On  his  recent  return  from  Uganda,  Mr.  Winston 
Churchill,  M.P.,  said  at  a  men's  meeting  in  London  : 
*  All  the  way  up  the  Uganda  Railway  there  are  to 
be  seen  naked  pagan  savages,  people  living  their 
tribal  life  in  the  darkness  of  ignorance  and  savagery, 
but  on  landing  in  Uganda  we  found  ourselves  in  a 
new  world,  one  of  clothed,  well-mannered,  well- 
organised,  and  polite  people.  About  200,000  of 
them,  so  I  was  told,  are  able  to  read  and  write,  and 
nearly  100,000,  perhaps  more,  have  embraced  one 
form  or  another  of  Christianity.  And  in  embracing 
it  they  made  what  to  them  was  a  complete  reversal 
of  their  former  habits  of  life.  They  abandoned 
polygamy  and  adopted  Christian  marriage.  That  is 
a  great  and  marvellous  thing,  and  coming  to  that 
community  in  the  heart  of  Africa  it  seemed  to  me  as 
if  I  had  come  to  a  centre  of  peace  and  illumination 
in  the  middle  of  barbarism  and  darkness,  a  new 
world  where  all  the  hopes  and  dreams  of  the  negro- 
phile  and  philanthropist  have  at  last  been  fulfilled. 
...  A  great  many  cheap  sneers  have  been  poured 
out  on  Exeter  Hall  by  people  with  hot  heads  and,  I 


266  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

am  inclined  to  think,  with  rather  cold  hearts.  .  .  . 
And  yet  it  was  Exeter  Hall  that  won  Uganda.'  In 
another  address  he  said :  *  The  material  services 
which  missionary  work  renders  to  the  British  Empire 
are  immense ;  but  they  can  be  appreciated.  The 
moral  services  which  it  renders  are  far  greater,  and 
can  never  be  measured.' 

One  day  a  missionary  in  alliance  with  Lovedale 
wished  to  give  his  visitor  an  object-lesson  on  the 
civilising  effects  of  the  Gospel.  He  began  with  the 
witch-doctor,  a  perfect  heathen  with  two  huts  and 
two  wives,  and  wearing  the  head  ring,  the  distin- 
guishing mark  of  the  responsible  warrior.  They 
visited  in  all  some  twelve  houses,  each  of  which  was 
a  little  better  than  the  other,  and  indicated  the  stage 
which  the  inhabitants  had  reached  along  the  Christ- 
ward  path.  We  found  a  house  and  a  hut  within  a 
stone's- throw  of  each  other.  They  might  have  been 
built  about  the  same  time,  but  it  seemed  as  if  a 
whole  century  divided  them.  The  Christian  faith 
had  made  all  that  difference.  At  last  we  came  to  a 
house  of  five  apartments,  each  of  which  was  scrupu- 
lously clean.  Many  articles  of  furniture  were 
adorned  with  native  needlework ;  gleeful  children 
were  playing  at  the  door;  and  a  neat  garden  and 
well-cultivated  fields  lay  around,  in  some  of  which 
cattle  were  grazing.  The  native  farmer  and  his  wife 
gave  us  a  most  friendly  welcome.  A  Bible,  hymn- 
book,  and  a  copy  of  the  Pilgrim's  Progress  were 
lying  on  the  table  at  the  entrance.  Over  all  within 
and  around  that  comfortable  homestead  might  have 
been  written  '  Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and 
His  righteousness,  and  all  these  things  shall  be 
added  unto  you.'  It  was  only  twenty-five  years 
since  that  mission  had  begun  its  blessed  work  among 


HOW  A  PENNY  SAVES  A  POUND  267 

a  people  without  an  alphabet,  or  a  history,  or  any 
trace  of  civilisation.  Lives  there  a  man  with  soul  so 
dead  that  he  cannot  rejoice  in  such  achievements 
among  those  who  were  lately  the  least  favoured  of 
humankind?  It  was  the  pale  Galilean  who  had 
conquered  in  that  African  village.  Through  His 
heralds  He  had  not  only  taught  them  virtue,  but  had 
brought  among  them  a  virtue-making  power.  Civi- 
lisation may  give  the  native  everything  about  virtue 
except  the  power  to  live  it. 

It  is  only  a  few  years  ago  since  Sir  George  Leigh 
Hunt  said,  speaking  of  British  New  Guinea:  'The 
Government  owe  everything  to  the  missions.  I  wish 
I  could  make  you  fully  realise  what  missions  mean 
to  the  Administration.  It  would  have  to  be  doubled, 
perhaps  quadrupled,  in  strength  if  it  were  not  for  the 
little  whitewashed  houses  along  the  coast  where 
missionaries  live.  So  every  penny  contributed  to 
these  missions  is  a  help  to  the  King's  Government ; 
every  penny  spent  on  missionaries  saves  a  pound  to 
the  Administration,  for  the  missions  bring  peace  and 
law  and  order.' 

The  importance  of  this  question,  and  the  amazing 
ignorance  regarding  it  among  many  who  are  other- 
wise intelligent,  may  justify  the  addition  of  a  few 
testimonies  from  experts  in  the  science  of  civilisa- 
tion. 

'  That  the  African  is  capable  of  Christianisation 
and  of  rising  to  take  his  place  among  the  foremost 
races  of  men,  I  regard  as  an  indisputable  fact.  Let 
it  be  remembered  what  Europe  was  at  the  beginning 
of  our  era.  There  we  find  fetishism,  polygamy, 
slavery,  absolute  savagery,  in  many  instances  worse 
than  anything  to  be  found  in  Africa  to-day.  The 
problem  to  be  solved  and  the  conditions  of  the  case 


268  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

were  pretty  much  the  same  in  Europe  once  as  they 
are  now  in  Africa.' — Mackay  of  Uganda. 

'The  missionary  is  the  mainspring  of  Africa's 
modern  evolution,  the  hope  for  the  betterment  of  her 
hapless  people.' — Dr.  Cust  in  Africa  Rediviva. 

'  Through  these  alone  (English  and  Scottish 
missions  around  Lake  Nyasa)  is  growing  up  such 
civilisation  as  exists  in  Nyasaland.  Christianity  is 
the  only  hope  of  the  people.  When  the  history  of 
the  African  States  of  the  future  comes  to  be  written, 
the  arrival  of  the  first  missionary  will,  with  many  of 
these  new  nations,  be  the  first  historical  event.  This 
pioneering  propagandist  will  assume  somewhat  of 
the  character  of  a  Quetzalcoatl — of  those  strange, 
half-mythical  personalities  that  figure  in  the  legend 
of  old  American  empires,  the  beneficent  being  who 
introduces  arts,  manufactures,  implements  of  hus- 
bandry, edible  fruits,  medicinal  drugs,  cereals,  and 
domestic  animals.' — Sir  H.  H.  Johnston. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  ninth  chapter  of  the 
second  volume  of  his  History  of  England  in  the 
Eighteenth  Century,  Lecky  says  that  the  policy  of 
the  elder  Pitt,  the  splendid  victories  by  land  and  sea, 
and  the  dazzling  episodes  in  the  reign  of  George  II., 
must  yield  in  real  importance  to  the  religious  revival 
begun  in  England  by  the  preaching  of  the  Wesleys 
and  of  Whitfield.  Green,  in  his  Short  History  of  the 
English  People,  makes  a  similar  statement. 

'  In  eastern  as  in  other  parts  of  the  great  dark 
continent,  civilisation  without  Christianity  has  in- 
tensified the  moral  and  physical  evils  arising  from 
native  vice.' — Archdeacon  Walker  of  Uganda. 

*  Evangelisation  must  precede  civilisation.  Nothing 
less  than  the  power  of  divine  grace  can  reform  the 
hearts  of  savages.     After  this  the  mind  is  suscept- 


THE  TESTIMONY  OF  EXPERTS  269 

ible.' — Robert  Moffat,  after  twenty-six  years'  ex- 
perience. 

Sir  George  Grey  and  Sir  Bartle  Frere  prized  and 
used  the  missions  as  civilising  agencies. 

Lord  Shaftesbury  records  how  he  heard  Lord 
Macaulay,  in  the  House  of  Commons,  declare  that 
'  the  man  who  speaks  or  writes  a  syllable  against 
Christianity  is  guilty  of  high  treason  against  the 
civilisation  of  mankind  ' ;  and  Froude,  in  his  essay  on 
Calvinism,  expresses  the  same  thought  when  he  says, 
'  All  that  we  call  modern  civilisation  in  a  sense 
which  deserves  the  name,  is  the  visible  expression  of 
the  transforming  power  of  the  Gospel.' 

*  Itself  missionary  in  spirit  from  the  beginning,  the 
Wesleyan  Methodist  Church  gratefully  acknowledges 
the  surpassing  worth  of  the  vast  work  performed  by 
the  late  Dr.  Stewart,  not  only  at  Lovedale,  but 
through  that  Institution  in  every  part  of  the  land, 
and  regards  his  work  as  a  leading  factor  in  the 
Christian  civilisation  of  the  many  native  peoples  of 
South  Africa.' 

*  It  is  not  by  the  State  that  man  can  be  regenerated 
and  the  terrible  woes  of  this  darkened  world  effect- 
ually dealt  with.' — Gladstone. 

'The  religious  idea  at  the  bottom  of  our  civilisa- 
tion is  the  missionary  idea.' — W.  T.  Harris. 

*  We  have  a  well-founded  right  to  say  that  the 
most  certain  and  effectual  agent  of  civilisation  is 
the  missionary.' — Professor  Gaston  Bonet-Maury, 


CHAPTER    XXVI 

THE   NATIVES   AND   THE   EUROPEANS 

Table  Mountain — The  Native  Problem— The  Land  Problem — 
Dr.  Stewart  as  a  Daysman — Native  Criminal  Law — Race 
Enmity — The  Scorners  of  the  Natives — Hopeful  Facts. 

'  It  is  the  aim  of  Christianity  to  blot  out  the  word  alien  and  barbarian 
and  put  the  word  brother  in  its  place.' — Max  Miiller. 

'  British  justice,  if  not  blind,  should  be  colour-blind.' — Conan  Doyle  in 
'  The  Great  Boer  War.' 

'Contempt  of  men  is  the  ground-feature  of  heathenism.' — Martensen's 
'  Ethics.' 

'■Mega  anthropos'  (A  man  is  a  great  thing).  — ^4  Church  Father. 

'The  great  ones  honoured  us,  the  believers  showed  us  affection,  but  the 
people  of  the  world  despised  us  because  our  skins  were  black.' — Gambella, 
the  Christian  Prime  Minister  of  King  Lewanika  of  Barotsiland,  on  his 
return  from  the  Coronation  of  King  Edward  VII. 

The  first  object  that  fixes  the  gaze  of  the  stranger 
at  Cape  Town  is  Table  Mountain,  that  dark  gigantic 
rock  of  perpendicular  granite,  nearly  4000  feet  high 
and  12  miles  long.  It  besets  him,  monopolises 
attention,  shuts  out  all  objects  behind  and  dwarfs 
all  in  front,  and  looks  menacingly  upon  him  through 
the  windows  of  the  house  where  he  is  sojourning. 
When  the  white  chilling  mist  lies  upon  it,  that  dark 
mass  seems  to  shut  out  heaven  and  overhang  the 
whole  city. 

Since  old  Africa  came  to  an   end  in    1900,  and 

270 


NEW  WINE  IN  OLD  BOTTLES  271 

Boer  and  Briton  are  now  at  peace,  the  native 
problem  confronts  all  thoughtful  men  in  South 
Africa  after  the  fashion  of  Table  Mount  It  is 
the  '  black  cloud '  which  overshadows  the  patriot, 
and  for  him  there  is  from  it  no  escape.  It  is  the 
storm-centre  of  African  discussion  and  politics. 
And  it  had  a  large  place  in  Stewart's  whole  life, 
and  remained  a  permanent  part  of  the  horizon  of 
his  mind. 

The  native  problem  in  South  Africa  is  the  greatest 
of  its  kind  in  history,  and  one  of  the  heaviest  burdens 
ever  laid  upon  the  white  man.  It  will  probably  be 
the  supreme  test  of  modern  statesmanship.  It  may 
be  fairly  defined  by  using  the  words  in  which  a 
statesman  recently  described  the  kindred  problem 
in  India:  '  It  is  not  a  phase  but  a  development,  not 
a  sickness  but  a  birth  which  our  own  Government 
has  created.'  The  new  wine  is  bursting  the  old 
bottles. 

The  essential  facts  are  these :  Between  the  Cape 
and  the  Zambesi  there  were,  according  to  the 
census  of  1904,  1,142,563  whites  and  9,163,021 
natives  and  coloured  people.  Dudley  Kidd,  in  his 
Kafir  Socialism  (p.  284),  says  that  the  native  popula- 
tion in  Natal  has  increased  seventy-five  fold  in 
seventy  years — from  about  10,000  in  1838  to  700,000 
in  1906.  The  natives  have  an  unconquerable  vitality. 
The  vices  of  the  white  men  have  failed  to  reduce 
their  numbers  as  they  have  done  in  other  lands. 
They  are  still  '  fruitful  and  multiply  and  replenish 
the  earth.'  The  Basutos,  the  most  prosperous  and 
intelligent  of  the  African  races,  have,  it  is  said, 
increased  fivefold  during  the  last  thirty  years.  In 
Natal,  in  twenty  years,  the  Zulus  have  doubled. 
Bryce,  in  his  Impressions  of  South  Africa  (p.  346), 


272  STEWART  OF  LOVED  ALE 

tells  us  that  '  the  number  of  the  Fingoes  to-day  is 
ten  times  as  great  as  it  was  fifty  or  sixty  years  ago. 
The  blacks  are  increasing  twice  as  fast  as  the  whites, 
as  all  the  checks  that  formerly  kept  the  population 
in  bounds  have  been  removed.'  Dr.  Carnegie  says 
that  the  negroes  in  America  in  1880  were  6,580,793, 
and  in  1890,  8,840,789.  The  coloured  races  are 
multiplying  with  a  rapidity  which  many  deem  alarm- 
ing. The  problem  is  how  to  develop  the  native 
into  a  citizen.  Every  year  it  grows  graver,  and  the 
penalty  of  failure  is  appalling.  And  it  is  very 
urgent,  for  the  natives  do  not  move  now  as  by  the 
measured  pace  of  oxen,  but  as  by  steam  and 
electricity.^ 

There  will  soon  be,  if  there  is  not  already,  a  press- 
ing land  problem.  The  territories  allotted  to  the 
natives  are  now  almost  fully  occupied.  While  there 
are  immense  stretches  of  unoccupied  lands,  the 
greater  part  of  these  is  almost  waterless,  covered 
with  scrub,  and  incapable  of  cultivation.  Our 
Empire  in  South  Africa  has  now  reached  its  terri- 
torial limits.  Africa  now  contains  no  more  unpar- 
celled  earth  of  any  agricultural  value. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  the  natives  should  be  dis- 
contented when  they  see  the  land  which  belonged  to 


^  In  his  recently  published  Kafir  Socialism  and  The  Dawn  oj 
Individualism:  An  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  the  Native  Problem, 
Dudley  Kidd  endeavours  to  set  forth  all  the  essential  facts  in  the 
problem,  and  to  suggest  practical  remedies.  It  is  a  very  interesting 
book,  but  it  is  fitted  to  make  the  reader  feel  giddy  in  presence 
of  the  enormous  complexities,  varieties,  and  hindrances  which  belong 
to  the  native  question.  Mr.  Kidd  says  that  we  are  building  up 
our  structure  at  the  foot  of  a  volcano,  but  that,  like  all  Pompeians, 
we  have  grown  used  to  it,  and  do  not  worry  much  about  our 
Vesuvius.  '  The  problems  ahead,'  he  says,  *  make  one  almost  afraid 
to  think. ' 


THE  GROWING  PAINS  OF  AN  EMPIRE     273 

their  tribes  from  time  immemorial,  now  occupied  by 
white  men,  some  of  whom,  they  believe,  are  coveting 
the  poor  black  man's  vineyard,  and  wishing  to  'eat 
up'  his  land.  Some  one  has  said  that  formerly 
Europeans  used  to  steal  Africans  from  Africa,  and 
now  they  are  trying  to  steal  Africa  from  the  Africans. 
The  recent  Boer  war  and  the  war  in  German  terri- 
tory have  tended  to  foster  elements  of  discontent. 
And  their  rulers  admit  that  they  have  real  grievances 
which  should  be  remedied. 

Many  have  written  upon  this  perplexing  subject. 
A  perusal  of  their  writings  leaves  two  impressions : 
all  admit  the  extreme  gravity  of  the  problem,  and 
no  one  suggests  a  practical  and  hopeful  solution. 
The  Native  Affairs  Commission  left  this  question 
untouched.  We  are  in  presence  of  the  growing  pains 
of  a  new  and  vast  Empire.  This  spectacle  has 
drawn  the  eyes  of  the  world  to  South  Africa.  We 
may  hope  that  there  will  never  be  any  serious  war  of 
races,  though  some  students  of  the  problem  have 
grave  fears.  There  is  a  history  of  Lobengula  which 
has  as  its  frontispiece  a  white  and  a  black  soldier 
fully  armed.  It  is  plain  to  the  eye  that  the  black 
man  has  no  better  chance  in  battle  than  the  crow 
has  with  the  eagle.  Besides,  the  various  races 
know  not  how  to  unite,  though  they  are  now  be- 
ginning to  realise  their  race  unity  and  their  common 
interests. 

Stewart  was  well  fitted  to  be  a  Daysman  between 
the  conflicting  parties.  The  'Great  White  Father' 
of  the  natives,  he  could  lay  a  hand  on  both.  The 
word  '  Lovedale '  had  a  charm  for  them.  It  offered 
a  fair  field  to  all  and  no  favour.  There  their  chil- 
dren ate,  studied,  worked,  and  played  together  with 
the    white   children.     They  all    knew  that   he   had 

S 


2  74  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

devoted  his  life  to  them.^  The  chiefless  native, 
without  a  land  or  a  home,  formerly  a  man,  but  now 
a  child  in  his  new  surroundings,  and  bewildered 
with  the  white  man's  strange  ways,  appealed  strongly 
to  his  knightly  chivalry,  and  made  him  '  think 
furiously'  as  the  French  say.  At  the  same  time 
Stewart's  attitude  to  the  colonists  had  always  been 
respectful  and  propitiatory.  Like  them,  he  was  a 
zealous  imperialist,  and  vehemently  opposed  to 
Kruger's  policy.  Largely  dowered  with  the  God- 
given  instinct  of  revolt  against  oppression  and 
wrong,  he  could  express  his  noble  rage  in  the  style 
of  an  Old  Testament  prophet.  With  flashing  eye 
and  quivering  voice  he  described  scenes  of  wanton 
cruelty  towards  natives  which  he  had  witnessed. 
The  Grondwet  (constitution)  of  the  Transvaal,  which 

^  The  Reverend  Doig  Young  writes  :  '  Once  when  Dr.  Stewart  and 
Mr.  Mzimba  were  travelling  together  to  attend  a  meeting  of  Presby- 
tery, they  had  to  spend  a  night  at  a  wayside  inn.  Knowing  that 
hotel-keepers  as  a  rule  do  not  give  up  a  bedroom  to  a  native,  Dr. 
Stewart,  after  being  shown  his  room,  asked  the  landlady  what 
accommodation  Mr.  Mzimba  was  to  have.  "Oh,"  she  said,  "I  will 
let  him  sleep  in  the  loft  outside."  "Well,  well,"  was  the  quiet  re- 
joinder, "just  let  me  see  the  place."  They  were  taken  to  the  loft 
above  the  stable.  Dr.  Stewart  turned  to  Mr.  Mzimba  and  said,  in 
presence  of  the  landlady,  "You  go  and  occupy  my  room,  and  I  will 
sleep  here."  "  Oh  no,"  was  her  reply,  "  I  cannot  allow  that."  "  But 
I  insist  upon  it,"  continued  Dr.  Stewart;  "if  you  have  no  bedroom 
in  the  house  to  give  my  friend,  he  must  take  my  room."  The  upshot 
was  that  Mr.  Mzimba  was  shown  into  a  comfortable  room.  During 
many  years  this  landlady  told  this  wonderful  story  to  her  guests.  It 
seems  to  have  been  the  only  experience  of  the  kind  she  had  known. 

•  Dr.  Stewart  was  all  through  his  long  missionary  life  the  loyal  and 
sympathetic  friend  of  the  native  people.  He  never  forgot  the  old 
students  either.  Should  he,  even  when  hurrying  through  the  streets 
of  a  town  to  catch  a  train,  notice  an  old  Lovedale  lad  on  the  other 
side  of  the  street,  across  he  would  run  at  once,  shake  hands,  and  ask 
after  his  welfare. 

•  He  lived,  he  worked,  he  prayed  for  the  advancement  of  the 
natives.' 


EQUAL  RIGHTS  FOR  ALL  CIVILISED  MEN    275 

declared  that  '  no  equality  between  black  and  white 
was  to  be  recognised  in  Church  and  State,'  roused 
his  intensest  opposition.  He  was  thus  persuaded 
that  only  under  British  supremacy  could  the  natives 
receive  justice  and  consideration.^  At  the  same 
time  he  had  no  romantic  or  sentimental  views  about 
the  natives.  No  man  spoke  more  boldly  about  their 
failings,  and  the  exertions  by  which  alone  they 
could  improve  their  position.  '  It  is  not  too  much 
to  say,'  writes  Dr.  M'Clure  of  Cape  Town,  'that 
Dr.  Stewart's  influence  did  much  to  ensure  the 
adoption  by  Cape  Colony  of  the  policy  of  equal 
rights  for  civilised  men  as  citizens  independent  of 
colour.'  This  policy  embraced  the  Glen  Grey  Act 
(so  called  from  the  district  to  which  it  was  first 
applied  in  1894)  by  which  the  sale  of  drink  was 
forbidden  to  the  natives.  Cecil  Rhodes  was  the 
chief  advocate  of  this  policy,  and  he  secured  its 
application  to  Rhodesia.  Many  are  of  opinion  that 
in  these  questions  he  was  largely  influenced  by 
Stewart.  They  do  wrong  to  Rhodes  who  represent 
him  as  a  heartless  exploiter  of  the  natives.  He  was 
'  simply  worshipped '  by  his  black  servants,  and  he 
thus  defined  his  attitude  to  them :  '  The  natives  are 
children,  and  we  ought  to  do  something  for  the 
minds  and  the  brains  that  the  Almighty  has  given 
them.  I  do  not  believe  that  they  are  different  from 
ourselves.' 

In  1888  Stewart  had  an  influential  share  in  intro- 
ducing a  new  era  for  the  natives.     Along  with  a 

^  A  friend  who  is  perfectly  familiar  with  the  subject  writes  :  •  Under 
the  new  constitution  of  the  Transvaal,  which  is  supposed  to  be  British, 
and  certainly  has  the  approval  of  the  Home  Government,  the  natives 
are  said  to  be  no  better  off  than  when  under  Kruger.  They  have 
no  political  rights,  and  they  cannot  own  properly. 


2  76  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

leading  judge  he  was  appointed  to  draw  up  a  Bill 
codifying  the  native  criminal  law.  Their  report 
extended  to  some  seven  hundred  pages.  A  German 
had  slain  a  native,  and  for  some  time  he  was 
not  called  to  account  for  his  crime.  The  Rev. 
J.  D.  Don,  of  King  William's  Town,  then  boldly 
espoused  the  cause  of  the  natives,  and  Stewart  was 
one  of  his  chief  supporters.  The  community  was 
deeply  stirred  by  the  agitation,  and  the  principle 
was  then  for  the  first  time  fully  established  that  in 
the  eye  of  the  law  the  native  had  the  same  rights 
as  the  white  man.  This  successful  agitation  achieved 
for  the  natives  of  Africa  what  Burke,  by  his  action 
in  the  case  of  Warren  Hastings,  achieved  for  the 
natives  of  India.  Since  then  our  nation  has  rejected 
the  idea  of  geographical  morality  and  humanity, 
and  has  demanded  that  all  the  subject  races  within 
our  Empire  shall  be  governed  on  British  prin- 
ciples. That  demand  was  made  effective  in  South 
Africa  by  the  action  of  Mr.  Don,  Stewart,  and  their 
friends. 

Stewart  was  a  leading  authority  in  all  matters 
affecting  the  natives,  and  he  was  often  consulted 
by  statesmen. 

Both  Cecil  Rhodes  and  Lord  Milner  adopted  the 
'Lovedale'  attitude  to  the  natives.  The  following 
letter  from  Lord  Milner  reveals  his  relation  to  Dr. 
Stewart  and  his  matured  convictions  regarding  the 
natives : — 

'High  Commissioner's  Office, 
'Johannesburg,  Oct.  17,  1904. 

'Dear  Dr.  Stewart, — Many  thanks  for  your 
letter  of  October  6th,  and  for  kindly  sending  me 
your  book.     The  contrasted  maps  on  page   11  are 


LORD  MILNER'S  POLICY  WITH  NATIVES   277 

striking  indeed.  I  have  so  far  read  the  first  and 
fifteenth  chapters  with  much  interest.  You  know 
that  I  am  in  agreement  with  your  temperate  hope- 
fulness about  the  African,  or  at  least  the  African 
that  I  know.  The  Commission  have  been  here  the 
last  ten  days.  I  am  glad  to  find  that  the  leading 
men  on  it  seem  to  me  to  be  inclining  to  a  very 
sound  view  ;  they  are  decidedly  not  anti-native,  and 
are  anxious  to  give  the  natives  both  a  chance  and 
incitement  to  gradually  rise  individually,  and  also 
to  give  them  collectively  some  representation,  though 
they  are  dead  against  whites  and  blacks  voting  to- 
gether. I  think  it  is  going  to  come  to  native  repre- 
sentation in  a  white  assembly  through  separate 
members  elected  by  the  natives,  voting  separately — 
not,  perhaps,  an  ideal  solution,  but  better  either 
than  the  present  Cape  system  or  the  total  exclusion 
of  the  natives  from  all  representation.  The  latter 
system  will  no  doubt  continue  to  prevail  for  some 
time  in  the  new  colonies.  One  cannot  rush  these 
things.  But  if  the  Cape,  which  has  on  the  whole 
most  civilised  natives,  leads  the  way,  and  the  ex- 
periment is  a  success,  the  other  colonies  will  doubt- 
less follow  suit  in  time.  I  hope  you  have  by  now 
received  th<.  minutes  of  the  evidence  already  given. 
You  will  be  the  best  judge  whether  you  should 
appear  before  the  Commission  in  person.  There  is 
no  man  whose  views  on  the  native  question  would 
be  of  greater  authority.  But,  of  course,  you  may 
think,  on  looking  through  the  evidence,  that  the 
considerations  you  would  like  to  urge  have  already 
been  sufficiently  presented  by  others.  You  alone 
can  judge  whether  this  is  so  or  not. — Believe  me, 
dear  Dr.  Stewart,  with  affectionate  respect,  yours 
very  truly,  MiLNER.' 


278  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

In  1897,  at  Bulawayo,  Rhodes  made  his  celebrated 
declaration  about  '  equal  rights  for  all  civilised  men 
south  of  the  Zambesi,  whatever  their  colour.'  The 
policy  adopted  in  Lovedale  forty  years  ago  has  been 
adopted  in  all  the  States  in  South  Africa  except 
Natal,  Transvaal,  and  Orange  River  Colony.  *  It 
has  been  given  to  few  men  to  make  and  mould  a 
whole  race ' — we  quote  from  the  Memorial  Number 
of  the  Christian  Express.  '  Such  nation-builders 
God  sends  seldom.  But  Dr.  James  Stewart,  mis- 
sionary, was  thus  honoured.  It  is  to  him,  to  his 
largeness  of  soul,  to  his  tenderness  of  heart  all  con- 
secrated, enriched,  and  purified  by  the  spirit  of  God, 
that  the  native  people  of  South  Africa  owe  in  great 
measure  the  position  of  advantage  and  promise 
which  they  hold  to-day.' 

Stewart  was  fully  alive  to  all  the  essential  facts 
of  the  race-problem,  which  divides  the  English  as 
well  as  the  Dutch.  The  attitude  of  many  British 
colonials  to  the  native  was  one  of  the  sorrows  of  his 
life.  South  Africa  is,  and  has  always  been,  a  land 
of  extremes,  contradictions,  and  surprises.  To  both 
Herodotus  and  Aristotle  is  the  saying  attributed, 
*  Out  of  Africa  comes  ever  some  new  thing.'  To 
the  British  traveller  one  of  the  greatest  of  African 
surprises  is  the  number  of  .men  of  British  birth  who 
have  no  real  sympathy  with  the  native.  'The 
traveller  in  South  Africa,'  says  Bryce,  '  is  astonished 
at  the  strong  feeling  of  dislike  and  contempt — one 
might  almost  say  of  hostility — which  the  bulk  of 
the  whites  show  to  their  black  neighbours.  The 
tendency  to  race-enmity  lies  very  deep  in  human 
nature.' 

The  whites  in  South  Africa  are  much  more  out- 
spoken and  unconventional  than  their  kinsfolk  at 


HAM  THE  SLAVE  OF  JAPHETH  279 

home.  Their  real  opinions  are  soon  disclosed  to  the 
traveller.  Some  seem  to  regard  the  black  man  as 
their  haltered  milch  cow,  and  scarcely  a  man.  Their 
philosophy  is  that  Ham  has  no  business  to  do  any- 
thing but  serve  Japheth  as  in  duty  bound.  They 
forget  that  he  has  human  feelings  and  rights.  They 
expect  him  to  work  for  their  profit  with  intelligence, 
while  he  is  not  to  use  that  intelligence  for  his  own 
advancement.  They  claim  to  speak  for  a  large 
number  of  their  neighbours.  It  is  here  offered  as 
personal  testimony  that  many  intelligent  Britons  in 
South  Africa  say  what  no  man  would  venture  to  say 
in  public  at  home.  They  value  the  black  man  only 
in  so  far  as  he  can  be  of  service  to  them.  One  soon 
discovers  in  South  Africa  that  inhumanity  may  also 
have  its  bigots.  Froude  in  his  Oceana  says :  '  A 
black  man  is  a  better  conductor  of  lightning  than 
a  white,  and  so  a  white  has  always  a  black  by  his 
side  in  a  thunderstorm.'  In  his  Last  Journal 
Livingstone  says:  'We  must  never  lose  sight  of  the 
fact  that  though  the  majority  perhaps  are  on  the 
side  of  freedom,  large  numbers  of  Englishmen  are 
not  slave-holders  only  because  the  law  forbids  the 
practice.  In  this  proclivity  we  see  a  great  part  of 
the  reason  of  the  frantic  sympathy  of  thousands 
with  the  rebels  in  the  great  Black  war  in  America.' 

It  is  true  that  the  white  man  has  many  provoking 
experiences  with  the  natives,  but  has  he  none  with 
his  fellow- whites? 

In  his  evidence  before  the  Native  Affairs  Commis- 
sion Stewart  said :  *  The  white  man  has  contributed 
to  race  antagonisms  quite  as  much  as  the  black 
perhaps.  Many  white  people  would  not  worship  in 
a  church  where  the  natives  are.  That  is  the  general 
feeling  in  the  colonies.' 


28o  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

J.  S.  M'Arthur,  Esq.,  the  discoverer  of  the  Cyanide 
process  of  extracting  gold,  thus  describes  the  scorn 
with  which  some  regard  the  native  Christian  :  '  As 
I  began  to  mix  more  with  the  people  in  South 
Africa,  I  got  to  understand  the  prejudice  against 
the  Kafir  Christian.  Those  who  reviled  him  often 
knew  nothing  about  him,  and  those  who  really  did 
know  about  him  were,  in  most  cases,  a  low  type  of 
European  who  considered  that  every  nigger  requires 
to  be  kicked,  beaten,  thrashed,  and  sworn  at.  The 
Christian  Kafir  had  been  taught  that  he  was  a  man, 
and  he  resented  the  continual  ill-treatment.  To  the 
consternation  of  the  bully  the  "converted  nigger" 
showed  himself  a  man.  The  bully  did  not  like  it, 
and  then  blamed  Christianity  for  spoiling  niggers.' 

Sir  R.  J  ebb,  of  the  British  Association,  reports 
that '  the  education  of  the  native  was  spoken  of  by 
some  with  scorn,  or  even  with  something  like  panic' 
They  dislike  native  education  as  much  as  the  slave- 
holders did  in  the  Southern  States  of  America. 
Surely  he  who  opposes  education  cannot  be  regarded 
as  an  educated  man. 

I  met  some  whites  in  South  Africa  who  were 
deeply  grieved  that  Lord  Milner  had  heartily  shaken 
hands  with  native  chiefs,  and  that  statesmen  and 
noblemen  had  entertained  in  their  houses  in  London 
the  African  chiefs  who  were  at  the  Coronation. 
Though  the  subject  had  a  very  sad  side,  the  naivete 
of  the  distressed  objectors  was  highly  amusing. 
These  people  would  deny  to  the  natives  the  common 
courtesies  of  life.  Several  representatives  of  the 
Press  treat  the  whole  subject  with  heartless  cynicism. 
In  view  of  these  facts,  Britons  should  not  upbraid 
the  Boers,  as  a  class,  for  their  treatment  of  the 
natives. 


THE  WHITE  MAN'S  GRIEVANCE  281 

Some  colonial  objectors  to  missions  are  like  the 
peevish  children  in  the  market-place  in  Christ's  day. 
They  wish  the  missionary  to  teach  the  Kafir  not  to 
read  but  to  work ;  and  when  he  is  taught  to  work, 
they  still  object  that  the  teaching  heightens  the 
price  of  labour.  Many  are  afraid  of  the  competition 
of  the  trained  native,  and  think  that  he  should  be 
only  a  hewer  of  wood  and  drawer  of  water  to  the 
whites,  as  patient  as  the  ox  and  more  obedient  than 
the  mule.^  The  real  trouble  with  them  is  that  they 
cannot  get  cheap  skilled  native  labour,  as  the  educa- 
tion that  makes  it  skilled,  makes  it  also  dear,  and 
so  prevents  the  speedy  enrichment  of  the  white  man. 
Like  many  unreasonable  people,  they  feel  indigna- 
tion in  connection  with  one  subject  and  express  it 
in  connection  with  another. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  there  are  two  policies 
in  South  Africa,  the  Cape  policy  and  the  policy  in 
Natal  and  Transvaal.  The  policy  of  Cape  Colony 
is  British,  that  in  the  other  two  States  is  more  or 
less  opposed  to  British  ideals.  During  the  Boer 
war  many  in  our  country  could  scarcely  believe 
that  natives  were  not  allowed  to  walk  on  the  pave- 
ment, and  that  if  any  attempted  in  Johannesburg  to 
do  so,  they  were  rudely  driven  away.  But  this  great 
scandal  has  not  yet  been  remedied,  and  so  Britain's 
fair  fame  as  the  champion  and  protector  of  the 
native  races  is  imperilled. 

^  This  view  is  very  frankly  stated  in  the  Koloniah  Zeitschrift,  the 
organ  of  the  German  commercial  company  into  whose  hands  the 
German  Government  placed  the  development  of  their  West  African 
Territory,  In  that  newspaper  we  read :  '  We  have  acquired  this 
colony,  not  for  the  evangelisation  of  the  Blacks,  not  primarily  for 
their  well-being,  but  for  us  whites.  Whosoever  hinders  our  object 
we  must  put  out  of  the  way.'  Verily  these  men  have  had  their 
reward.     {Christus  Liberator,  p.  279.) 


282  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

We  have  now  come  to  the  gravest  element  in  this 
overshadowing,  overawing,  and  omnipresent  pro- 
blem. It  is  that  pride  of  race  and  contempt  of 
others  which  is  the  unfailing  mark  of  genuine 
barbarism.  The  low-minded  scorners  of  the  African 
race  forget  that  scorn  breeds  scorn  and  abiding 
resentment,  and  that  the  native  is  a  man  for  all 
that,  of  the  same  human  stuiT  with  ourselves.  What 
can  we  expect  from  them  if  to  race-hatred  of  the 
raw  Kafir  there  should  be  added  race-envy  of  the 
educated  Kafir,  whom  some  regard  as  a  menace  to 
the  imagined  rights  of  the  whites,  Dr.  Livingstone 
says  that  it  is  a  very  dangerous  thing  to  despise  the 
manhood  of  the  meanest  savage,  and  that  some 
white  men  he  had  known  had  lost  their  lives  by  so 
doing.  In  Dr.  Blaikie's  Life  of  Livingstone,  p.  373, 
we  find  the  following :  *  The  rumour  of  the  Baron's 
(Van  der  Decken)  death  was  subsequently  confirmed. 
His  mode  of  treating  the  natives  was  the  very 
opposite  of  Livingstone's,  who  regarded  the  manner 
of  his  death  as  another  proof  that  it  was  not  safe  to 
disregard  the  manhood  of  the  African  people.'^ 

In  1882  General  Gordon,  then  stationed  at  King 
William's  Town,  wrote  to  Stewart:  'Do  away  with 
the  unsympathetic  magistrates  and  you  would  want 
no  troops.  To  me  the  native  question  is  a  com- 
paratively simple  one,  if  the  Government  would  act 
at  once.' 

The  natives  seem  to  have  some  mysterious  power 
which  is  lost  by  civilisation.     Dudley  Kidd  calls  it 

^  A  Brahmin  was  lately  speaking  to  an  Indian  missionary  about  the 
persistent  scorn  of  natives  by  Englishmen,  which  is  believed  to  be 
largely  responsible  for  the  present  estrangement  in  India.  The  Brah- 
min added :  '  When  you  meet  a  real  Christian  the  ideal  is  possible, 
and  it  is  possible  nowhere  else  in  the  world.' 


HOW  THE  NATIVES  ARE  WON  283 

telepathy.  They  know  far  better  than  the  most 
intelh'gent  whites  what  is  going  on  around  them. 
'Among  them  the  white  man's  character  and  repu- 
tation are  as  well  known  as  if  he  walked  in  broad 
daylight  with  the  whole  story  written  on  his  back.' 
The  natives  now  know  all  about  the  weaknesses  and 
vices  of  the  whites.  Do  any  of  us  realise  what  that 
means,  or  how  the  terrible  truth  impresses  them  ? 
Many  are  complaining  that  the  natives  do  not  now 
respect  the  white  men.  But  they  warmly  welcomed, 
and  kissed  the  hands  of,  the  first  white  men  who 
landed  at  Cape  Town.  No  man  should  be  respected 
because  his  skin  is  white,  or  because  he  possesses 
superior  power.  The  natives  respect  all  the  whites 
who  respect  themselves,  and  they  adore  those  whom 
they  can  completely  trust.  To  those  who  are  say- 
ing, 'We  must  and  shall  have  respect  from  the 
natives,'  the  proper  reply  is,  '  Deserve  it,  and  you 
will  get  it.'  Men  do  not  gain  respect  by  demand- 
ing it. 

Marvellous  beyond  words  is  the  power  which  the 
whites  might  easily  gain  over  the  natives  if  only 
their  lives  were  noble.  'We  perceive  that  you  re- 
spect us,  and  we  will  be  faithful  for  ever,'  said  the 
wild  Beydurs  of  India  to  Meadows  Taylor,  their 
magistrate.  The  hearts  of  all  men  are  fashioned 
alike  in  this  respect.  Many  great  statesmen  and 
missionaries  have  shown  how  uncivilised  men  may 
be  won.  It  is  very  plain  that  they  can  never  be  won 
by  brutality,  coercion,  and  scorn.  It  is  the  white 
man's  foolish  haughtiness  that  rouses  the  demon  in 
the  native  and  adds  fuel  to  the  fire  over  which  native 
discontent  is  simmering  all  the  world  over. 

This  barbarous  colour-madness  of  many  of  his 
fellow-countrymen  came  home  to  Stewart  as  a  per- 


284  STEWART  OF  LOVED  ALE 

sonal  affliction  or  a  domestic  calamity.  '  It  is  more 
difficult  to  say  what  will  be  the  future  of  the  African 
himself/  he  says,  '  but  it  is  possible  that  the  opinion 
about  him  will  be  as  completely  reversed  as  has  been 
the  opinion  of  the  civilised  world  about  the  continent 
in  which  he  dwells.  For  countless  centuries  he  was 
regarded  as  only  fit  to  be  a  chattel  and  a  slave,  and 
though  that  day  is  past,  many  at  the  present  time 
regard  him  as  scarcely  worthy  of  notice  among  man- 
kind, except  for  his  muscular  strength  and  fitness 
for  the  lowest  and  roughest  kind  of  labour.  Even 
to-day  educated  Englishmen  speak  of  him  as  an 
"  inferior  animal,  as  a  blend  of  child  and  beast,"  or  a 
"useless  and  dangerous  brute,"  scarcely  possessing 
human  rights.  To  those  who  use  such  language  I 
would  say,  how  badly  we  use  the  power  and  the  gifts 
that  God  has  given  us,  when  we  so  regard  the  unfor- 
tunate African.' 

The  Rev.  R.  W.  Barbour  wrote :  *  Dr.  Stewart  has 
a  great  deal  to  do  and  to  bear  in  his  fearless  defence 
of  their  rights.  He  does  not  flatter  the  natives,  but 
he  does  wish  to  see  fair-play,  and  to  give  them  a 
chance  of  standing  on  their  own  feet  in  all  this  hurry 
and  press  of  Europeans,  eager  to  get  more  land,  and 
threatening  to  override  the  coloured  people  alto- 
gether. Pitiably  enough,  the  subject  is  made  here, 
just  as  at  home,  a  matter  of  party.' 

As  this  chapter  is  discouraging,  it  should  close 
with  some  words  about  the  hopeful  features  of  the 
native  problem. 

1.  As  in  India,  the  native  Christians,  with  ex- 
tremely few  exceptions,  have  never  taken  part  in 
any  native  wars,  and  they  have  often  prevented 
bloodshed. 

2.  The  leading  statesmen  and  very  many  of  the 


BRITISH  IDEALS  IN  INDIA  AND  AFRICA    285 

citizens  of  South  Africa  desire  to  treat  the  natives 
with  justice  and  generosity.  The  Report  of  the 
Native  Affairs  Comnniission  is  inspired  by  a  noble 
desire  to  further  the  weal  of  all,  and  it  will  occupy  a 
place  of  high  honour  in  history.  But  as  so  many  are 
indifferent  or  hostile,  every  question  affecting  the 
natives  should  be  watched  with  unslumbering  vigi- 
lance in  the  mother-country.  South  African  affairs 
are  now  in  a  state  of  flux,  and  many  are  even  pro- 
posing to  remove  the  restrictions  on  the  sale  of 
European  liquors  to  the  natives.  Britons  have  every 
right  to  secure  that  the  natives  shall  be  treated 
according  to  the  British  ideals. 

3.  There  is  India  with  its  perplexing  problems  and 
its  300,000,000  split  up  into  a  hundred  different  races, 
each  speaking  a  different  dialect,  and  all  arrayed 
against  one  another  by  caste,  tribal  and  religious  pre- 
judices. The  world  has  never  seen  such  audacity  as 
that  of  our  little  island  in  undertaking  to  govern 
there  one-fifth  of  the  whole  human  family,  and  suc- 
cess has  attended  the  effort  because  the  Government 
has  been  just  and  sympathetic.  '  The  governing  of 
India  is  a  wonderful  thing  to  contemplate  ;  wonder- 
ful to  reckon  by  how  few  it  is  done,  with  what 
apparent  ease  and  small  parade  of  power  ;  wonderful 
to  see  how  difficulties  have  been  moulded  into  gains, 
how  prejudices  have  been  turned  to  good  account, 
and  how  strong  bricks  have  been  made  from  unin- 
viting straw.  Above  all  are  to  be  admired  those 
broad  principles  of  justice,  honesty,  and  kindness, 
which  are  at  the  foundation  of  British  rule.'  (Sir 
Frederick  Treves,  On  the  OtJier  Side  of  the  Lantern^ 
In  spite  of  present  disturbances,  India  teaches  us 
not  to  despair  of  Africa. 

'  Make  a  man  a  man,  and  let  him  be,'  is  the  British 


286  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

method.  The  difficulties  it  entails  are  smaller  than 
those  created  by  tyranny,  as  Russia  and  Belgium 
on  the  Congo  know  right  well.  If  there  is  danger 
in  making  concessions  to  an  awakening  people,  is 
there  none  in  refusing  them?  Lord  Lawrence  held 
that  Christian  things  done  in  a  Christian  way  could 
never  be  politically  dangerous.  He  declared  that 
these  things,  '  so  far  from  being  dangerous,  have 
established  British  rule  in  India.'  '  Having  ascer- 
tained,' he  wrote  in  one  of  his  despatches,  '  what  is 
our  Christian  duty  according  to  our  unerring  lights 
and  conscience,  he  would  follow  it  out  to  the  utter- 
most, undeterred  by  any  consideration.' 

Niebuhr,  the  German  historian,  says  that  Britons 
are  the  Romans  of  to-day.  But  there  is  an  essential 
difference :  Britain  desires  to  be,  not  the  robber  or 
mistress,  but  the  mother  of  the  subject  races.  We 
may  therefore  hope  that  the  native  question  in  South 
Africa  will  never,  as  in  America,  be  settled  by  fire 
and  sword. 


CHAPTER    XXVII 

ETHIOPIANISM 

Its  History  —  Aims — Growth — Division — Fruits — Conference 
at  Johannesburg — Mzimbaism — A  Surprising  Parallel — 
The  Bishop  of  Kafraria. 

'  Trifles  are  the  occasions  but  not  the  causes  of  Revolutions.' — Aristoile. 

'  The  Native  would  need  the  Anglo-Saxon  alongside  of  him  for  the  next 
fifty  or  one  hundred  years." — Mackay  of  Uganda. 

I  am  largely  indebted  to  an  article  in  the  Allgetneine  Missions  Zeit- 
schrift  for  1902,  translated  by  Mrs.  Stormont  of  Blythswood.  I  have  also 
borrowed  from  the  admirable  statement  about  Ethiopianism  in  the  Report 
of  the  first  General  Missionary  Conference  held  at  Johannesburg  in  1904. 
That  Report  is  based  upon  a  series  of  papers  in  the  Lovedale  Christian 
Express. 

The  Ethiopian  Church  had  a  great  influence  upon 
Stewart's  last  years.  It  was  one  of  the  sorest  dis- 
appointments of  his  life,  and  yet  it  contributed  to 
the  fulfilment  of  one  of  his  greatest  dreams.  It 
therefore  claims  a  chapter  in  his  biography. 

Its  History. — This  movement  took  a  definite  form 
in  the  early  eighties.  It  began  with  the  native  as- 
sistants. Their  position  was  a  trying  one.  In  many 
stations  they  did  the  most  of  the  work,  but  as  they 
were  not  ordained,  they  could  not  celebrate  marriages, 
or  baptize,  or  dispense  the  Lord's  Supper.  They 
had  also  a  lower  salary  and  status  than  the  white 
missionary,  and  they  felt  more  or  less  isolated  both 
from  the  blacks  and  the  whites.  Being  somewhat 
educated,  they  wished  to  better  their  position,  and 

287 


288  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

the  more  ambitious  wished  to  make  a  rapid  ascent 
of  the  social  ladder.  They  had  also  an  awakening 
sense  of  power  and  racial  responsibility.  Social  and 
political  avenues  were  closed  against  them,  but  the 
church  seemed  to  offer  a  highway  to  hicreased 
influence.  They  were,  no  doubt,  also  moved  by 
the  bearing  of  white  men,  many  of  whom  would 
not  worship  in  the  same  building  with  them.  Ethiop- 
ianism  is  the  reply  of  the  native  to  the  unfriendly 
attitude  of  the  colonist  in  the  press,  on  the  plat- 
form, and  in  private  life.  It  was  thus  the  product 
of  the  many  subtle  and  complex  influences  which 
create  the  ferment  and  *  growing  pains '  of  national 
adolescence. 

Even  the  Apostle  found  it  very  difficult  to  weld 
into  one  society  the  Hebrew  and  the  Hellene,  two 
races  with  two  languages.  The  effort  to  unite  the 
Saxon  and  the  Gael — two  races  with  two  languages 
— in  the  United  Free  Church  of  Scotland  has  recently 
led  to  a  disruption.  The  corresponding  difficulties 
in  South  Africa  have  been  intensified  by  colour,  by 
extreme  social  distinctions,  by  foreign  domination, 
and  by  the  aftermaths  of  war.  All  these  smoulder- 
ing embers  were  easily  stirred  into  a  flame. 

Ethiopianism  was  chiefly  a  minister's  movement. 
The  schism  began  in  the  Wesleyan  Church  at 
Pretoria  in  1892,  and  in  1896  the  Rev.  James 
Dwane,  a  Wesleyan  evangelist,  became  the  leader 
of  the  movement.  Many  members  seceded  from 
the  Wesleyan  and  Episcopal  churches. 

Dwane  had  visited  England  in  1894,  and  several 
sums  of  money  were  then  entrusted  to  him. 
On  his  return  many  questions  arose.  Was  that 
money  a  gift  to  the  missionary  or  the  mission  ? 
Was   it  for    his   own    mission   or  for   the    general 


A  SELF-SUPPORTING  NATIVE  CHURCH      289 

mission-work  ?  Was  it  to  be  expended  by  himself  or 
by  the  Committee?  These  questions  were  the  occasion, 
and  probably  also  one  of  the  causes,  of  his  secession. 

Another  element  in  this  movement  is  the  native's 
hereditary  delight  in  fighting.  As  this  tendency 
cannot  now  be  gratified  on  the  battlefield,  it  often 
reveals  itself  in  politics,  in  church  life,  and  especially 
in  litigation.  '  All  the  Kafirs  are  naturally  lawyers,' 
Stewart  says,  '  and  very  sharp  ones  too.' 

In  designating  their  Church,  the  leaders  wished  to 
avoid  the  name  '  African,'  and  they  chose  the  title 
'Church  of  Ethiopia.'  It  has  the  three  recom- 
mendations of  being  distinctive,  biblical  (Acts  viii. 
27),  and  popular.  It  is  a  well-chosen  rallying  cry. 
'  Ethiopianism '  is  now  applied  to  all  independent, 
religious,  and  social  or  political  societies  under  native 
management. 

Its  Aim. — The  avowed  aim  was  excellent.  It 
was  to  plant  a  self-supporting,  self-governing,  self- 
propagaling  Native  Church,  which  would  produce 
a  truly  African  type  of  Christianity  suited  to  the 
genius  and  needs  of  the  race,  and  not  be  merely  a 
black  copy  of  any  European  Church.  All  the  home 
churches  had  from  the  first  avowed  the  same  aim.^ 
The  foreign  mission  was  a  foster-nurse  for  the  rear- 
ing of  an  infant  native  church  that  should  by  and 
by  be  able  to  stand  alone.  All  would  admit  that 
for  Africa's  redemption,  the  African  must  be  the 
chosen  instrument.  Christianity  can  adapt  itself  to 
all  races  and  individualities,  and  it  is  an  historical 

^  On  Stewart's  appointment  to  Lovedale  in  1866,  the  Committee 
drew  up  a  minute  as  to  its  future  management,  in  which  this  passage 
occurs :  *  So  soon  as  native  congregations  are  formed,  the  care  of 
them  ought,  as  speedily  as  possible,  to  be  consigned  to  a  native 
pastorate  ...  in  time  to  be  supported  by  natives  themselves,  while  the 
Europeans  should  be  free  to  press  on  to  the  regions  beyond.' 

T 


290  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

fact  that  it  never  has  taken  root  in  any  land  till,  as 
in  Britain  and  Germany,  a  native  church  had  been 
formed  under  native  ministers.  Stewart  believed  that 
there  should  be  native  churches  composed  of  natives 
only,  for  he  held  that  as  soon  as  the  natives  were  in 
a  majority,  the  whites  would  separate  from  them.  In 
this  opinion  he  differed  from  the  home  church. 

The  avowed  aim  of  the  Ethiopian  movement  was 
good,  but  the  missionaries  believed  that  it  was  pre- 
mature, and  that  it  derived  much  of  its  strength 
from  inferior  motives,  though  it  was  a  proof  that 
the  African  was  awakening  from  the  slumber,  not 
of  decades,  but  of  centuries. 

The  Native  Affairs  Commissioners  say :  '  The 
Church  Separatist  or  Ethiopian  movement  has  as 
its  origin  a  desire  on  the  part  of  a  section  of  the 
Christianised  natives  to  be  freed  from  control  by 
European  Churches.  Its  ranks  are  recruited  from 
every  denomination  carrying  on  extensive  operations 
in  South  Africa,  and  there  is  in  each  case  little  or 
no  doctrinal  divergence  from  the  tenets  of  the 
parent  Church,  though  it  is  alleged,  and  the  Commis- 
sion fears  with  truth,  that  relaxed  strictness  in  the 
moral  standard  maintained  frequently  follows.  It 
is  the  outcome  of  a  desire  on  the  part  of  the  natives 
for  ecclesiastical  self-support  and  self-control,  first 
taking  tangible  form  in  the  secession  of  discontented 
and  restless  spirits  from  religious  bodies  under  the 
supervision  of  European  missionaries  without  any 
previous  external  incitation  thereto.  Further,  that 
upon  the  affiliation  of  certain  of  these  seceders  and 
their  followings  to  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  lamentable  want  of  discrimination  was  dis- 
played by  the  first  emissaries  to  South  Africa  in 
prdination  to  the  ministry  of  unsuitable  men.' 


AN  AMBITIOUS  PROGRAMME  291 

Stewart  gave  very  interesting  evidence  about 
Ethiopian  ism  before  the  Native  Affairs  Commission 
in  the  end  of  1904.  His  opinion  about  it  then  was 
much  more  unfavourable  than  it  had  been  in  pre- 
vious years. 

Its  Groivth. — It  was  resolved  to  seek  affiliation 
with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  U.S.A. 
which  has  a  section  entirely  composed  of  blacks. 
It  was  founded  because  of  the  '  evils  arising  from 
the  unkind  treatment  of  their  white  brethren,  who 
considered  them  a  nuisance  in  the  house  of  worship, 
and  even  pulled  them  off  their  knees  when  in  the 
act  of  prayer,  and  ordered  them  to  the  back  seats.' 
The  American  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  sent 
over  Dr.  Turner,  a  coloured  bishop,  who  toured 
the  country  with  great  flourish,  and  gave  a  great 
impetus  to  Ethiopianism.  In  six  weeks  he  received 
members  into  the  Church  by  the  thousand,  ordained 
sixty  ministers  and  deacons  on  their  face  value,  and 
welcomed  into  fellowship  at  a  few  hours'  notice 
many  seceding  congregations  and  pastors. 

The  Ethiopians  were  greatly  excited.  Oh,  they 
were  going  to  annex  Rhodesia — Mr.  Rhodes  had 
given  permission  for  that — and  Egypt,  and  Soudan, 
and  Abyssinia.  The  bishop  wrote  to  Menelik, 
king  of  Abyssinia.  He  was  quite  ready  to  start 
and  visit  the  king  as  soon  as  he  got  the  money 
from  America.  They  would  found  a  negro  church 
for  all  Africa,  and  Africa  would  be  evangelised  by 
genuine  Africans.  The  hope  was  held  out  that  the 
Africans  might  found  a  great  African  Republic. 

In  his  Kafir  Socialism,  Dudley  Kidd  shows  how 
an  average  native  chief  regards  the  pretensions  of 
the  Ethiopian.  '  You  are  the  coming  men,  and  you 
are  going  to  do  without  the  white  man  ? — Are  you  ? 


292  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

— Did  you  build  your  church  yourself?  Did  you 
make  the  iron  in  it,  the  door,  the  glass  ?  Did  you 
make  the  books  you  use?  Did  you  weave  the 
clothes  you  wear?'  To  all  these  questions  the 
Ethiopian  has  to  answer  '  No.'  '  You  owe  all  these 
to  the  white  man,  and  how  are  you  to  get  on  with- 
out him  ? '  The  thoughtful  natives  know  right  well 
that  the  white  missionaries  are  their  best  friends. 

Its  Divisions. — The  coloured  bishop  did  his  best 
to  foster  race- prejudice  and  disloyalty  to  the 
Government,  and  to  make  Ethiopianism  an  anti- 
white  crusade.  But  it  soon  began  to  divide  and  sub- 
divide :  division  is  the  weakness  of  the  Africans  in 
Church  and  State.  It  was  engineered,  too,  by  men  not 
always  of  good  repute,  some  of  whom  were  fugitives 
from  discipline.  Any  and  all  who  presented  them- 
selves were  ordained,  and  members  were  drawn  over 
from  all  the  missions. 

In  1899  Dwane,  the  leader,  was  admitted  into  the 
Anglican  Church,  and  was  made  Provincial  of  the 
new  'order  of  Ethiopia,'  which  was  founded  to 
welcome  his  followers.  The  name  was  a  great 
concession  to  the  Ethiopians, 

The  Fruits. — Stewart  wrote  :  '  The  effect  of  this 
method  is  to  create  a  Cave  of  Adullam  for  the 
restless  and  dissatisfied,  and  to  weaken  the  discipline 
of  other  churches.  Nominally  a  church  movement, 
it  contains  a  strong,  perhaps  dangerous  political 
element.  By  itself  it  is  not  likely,  at  least  for  some 
time,  to  be  either  in  government,  doctrine,  or  practice, 
much  of  a  blessing  to  native  Christianity  in  South 
Africa.  Its  aim  seems  to  be  a  kind  of  ecclesiastical 
Home  Rule,  and  it  has  done  nothing  but  mischief. 

'  The  name  Ethiopian  Church  was  admirably  con- 
ceived as  an  appeal  both  to  race  and  religion,  though 


AFRICA  FOR  THE  AFRICANS  293 

probably  race  more  than  religion  had  to  do  with 
the  whole  movement.  There  was  a  good  deal  said 
at  first  about  the  Ethiopians  going  to  evangelise 
the  heathens.  If  that  meant  to  the  outside  or 
distant  heathen,  none  as  yet  have  gone.' 

'Africa  for  the  Africans'  is  the  motto  of  the 
Ethiopian  movement/  says  Naylor,  'and  through 
it  the  African  strikes  at  the  missionaries,  the  one 
class  of  foreigners  upon  whom  he  can  depend  for 
fair  treatment  and  the  highest  service.  The  move- 
ment embitters  the  native,  intensifies  the  race 
problem,  and  threatens  to  extend  northward.'  It 
is  believed  to  be  to  some  extent  responsible  for  the 
uprising  of  the  natives  in  German  South  Africa,  and 
the  ensuing  bloodshed. 

Ethiopianism  has  become  very  much  a  Home 
Rule  movement,  and  it  is  charged  with  having  made 
a  compromise  with  heathenism.  It  is  not  doing 
mission-work  among  the  natives,  and  it  threatens  to 
become  '  the  parasite  of  African  missions.'  All  the 
elements  of  discord  are  fostered  by  it,  and  its  re- 
cruits are  gathered  from  all  the  missions,  but  it  has 
created  nothing.  It  is  without  unity  or  leadership. 
Powerful  to  disturb  and  destroy,  its  career  has  been 
like  the  torrent  accompanying  a  thunder  -  shower, 
which  loses  itself  in  the  sand,  leaving  only  a  dis- 
coloured sediment.  It  adds  its  current  to  the  terrible 
undertow  that  makes  for  a  carnal  Christianity. 

'  A  few  months  ago,  His  Highness  Prince  Bandele  Omoniyi  (a 
West  African  educated  at  Edinburgh  University)  published  A  Defence 
of  the  Ethiopian  Movement.  He  regards  it  as  ahnost  entirely  a 
political  movement,  and  he  claims  social  and  political  equality  for  all 
adult  British  subjects  in  Africa,  irrespective  of  race,  creed,  or  colour. 
He  also  advocates  the  fusion  of  the  black  and  while  races  by  inter- 
marriage, but  he  advertises  out  of  a  Black  Alan's  Republic.  The 
essential  difficulties  of  the  problem  are  entirely  ignored. 


294  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

The  Missionary  Conference  at  Johannesburg  in 
1904  adopted  the  following  resolution  : — '  This  Con- 
ference deplores  (i)  the  fact  that  the  Ethiopian 
bodies  should  so  often  display  an  utter  lack  of 
regard  for  the  principles  of  Christian  comity  by 
entering  fields  already  occupied,  and  by  prosely- 
tising therein ;  (2)  the  lowering  of  the  standard  of 
Christian  morals  through  lax  discipline,  and  the 
fostering  of  schism  in  the  Church  of  Christ ;  (3)  the 
intensification  of  the  distrust  existing  between  the 
two  great  races  of  this  land  by  the  emphasis  which 
Ethiopianism  is  placing  upon  the  colour  line. 

'  This  Conference  understands  Ethiopianism  to  be 
the  effort  in  South  Africa  to  establish  churches  inde- 
pendent of  European  missionary  control,  and  on 
racial  lines;  the  quickening  power  of  the  Gospel  and 
the  unavoidable  contact  of  the  native  with  European 
civilisation  have  produced  an  awakening  amongst 
the  natives  throughout  South  Africa ;  Ethiopianism 
is  largely  a  misdirected  use  of  their  new-born  energy; 
for  the  present  at  least  it  would  seem  to  require  not 
so  much  repression  as  careful  guidance.' 

Ethiopianism  has  brought  much  sorrow  to  many 
missionaries.  *  It  broke  Mr.  Coillard's  heart,'  his 
biographer  says, '  and  hastened  his  end.'  His  own 
son  in  the  faith,  who  owed  everything  to  him,  wrote 
a  letter  under  the  heading : — '  Reply  from  the 
Reverend  W.  J.  Mokalapa,  Arch-elder,  Overseer, 
Director  of  the  Training  Institute,  President  of  the 
District  Conference,  Presiding  Elder  of  Barotsiland, 
Central  Africa.' 

Mzimbaism. — Stewart  closely  watched  the  move- 
ments of  Ethiopianism,  and  devoted  to  it  many  able 
articles  in  the  Christian  Express.  But  he  did  not 
then  dream  that  it  was  to  come  to  his  own  door. 


AN  AFRICAN  SECESSION  295 

The  Rev.  P.  I.  Mzimba  had  been  one  of  the  lead- 
ing pupils  of  Lovedale,  and  he  had  acted  there  as 
ordained  minister  of  the  native  congregation  for 
twenty -two  years.  Stewart  and  his  friends  had 
bestowed  upon  him  exceptional  kindness.  But  in 
1898,  without  warning,  he  resigned  his  position, 
drew  off  with  him  two-thirds  of  the  congregation, 
and  founded  the  '  African  Presbyterian  Church,' 
forgetting  his  ordination  vows  '  to  maintain  the 
unity  of  the  Church  against  error  and  schism.'  He 
persisted  in  retaining  properties  with  the  custody  of 
which  he  had  been  officially  entrusted.  These  in- 
cluded ;^i36i,  several  buildings,  and  many  records 
and  documents.  As  representing  the  Foreign 
Mission  Committee  of  the  Church  at  home  and  the 
donors,  the  Presbytery  was  constrained  to  appeal 
to  the  law  courts,  and  Mzimba  was  ordered  to 
restore  the  goods  he  had  appropriated.  He  is  a 
Fingo,  and  nearly  all  in  his  church  are  Fingoes. 
Tribal  influences  have  had  a  large  share  in  the 
movements.  The  Fingoes  were  originally  the  slaves 
of  the  Kafirs, — their  '  dogs '  they  called  them — though 
they  have  now  outstripped  their  former  masters. 
All  the  Kafirs  were  loyal  when  the  Fingoes  sided 
with  Mzimba. 

The  trouble  began  with  Mzimba  as  with  his  friend 
Dwane.  When  in  Scotland  several  people,  from  the 
very  best  motives,  gave  him  sums  of  money  for  his 
church,  and  he  claimed  the  right  of  using  these  as  he 
thought  best.^ 

'  It  i!?  not  surprising  that  the  Moravians  have  adopted  the  following 
rule: — *We  also  disapprove  of  bringing  converts  to  Europe  on  any 
pretext  whatever,  and  think  it  would  lead  them  into  danger  of  injury 
to  their  own  souls.'  Some  of  the  most  distressing  troubles  in  missions 
among  Jews  and  Gentiles  have  been  created  by  the  liberality  of  good 


296  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

This  secession  brought  peculiar  sorrow  to  Stewart, 
for  in  the  early  days  Mzimba  had  been  to  him  as  his 
own  son  in  the  faith.  This  great  sorrow  was  ever 
before  him,  for  Mzimba's  church  and  manse  were  on 
the  hill-top  overlooking  Lovedale. 

Stewart's  legal  adviser  .thus  describes  this  episode  : 
— '  That  matter  aged  Dr.  Stewart  perceptibly.  How 
he  felt  it  all  in  the  inmost  depths  of  his  soul !  Advice 
was  taken  from  the  first  counsel  in  the  Colony,  the 
position  made  clear,  and  the  remedy  pointed  out. 
The  issue  could  not  be  evaded,  all  efforts  to  arrange 
a  peaceful  settlement  had  been  repulsed.  .  .  .  Hard 
things  were  said,  wrong  statements  made,  grave  re- 
flections were  cast  upon  him.  These  did  not  fail  to 
wound,  for  underlying  the  deep  strength  of  the  man 
there  lay  a  vein  of  keen  sensitiveness.  .  .  .  Dr.  Stewart 
received  his  justification  in  the  Mzimba  action  at  the 
hands  of  the  Chief-Justice  of  this  Colony,  but  he 
never  was  the  same  man  afterwards.  That  bitter 
time  left  a  scar  upon  his  heart  that  I  believe  he  felt 
each  day  until  he  died.' 

Ethiopianism,  however,  gave  a  decisive  impulse  to  a 
scheme  which  had  been  in  Stewart's  heart  for  thirty 
years.  About  one  hundred  Ethiopians  had  gone  to 
the  United  States  of  America  to  receive  in  a  Negro 
College  a  higher  education  than  was  within  their 
reach  at  home.  Their  minds  had  been  poisoned 
with  hatred  of  the  white  man  and  his  rule.  This  fact 
persuaded  many  leading  statesmen  that  they  must 

people  who  have  given  money  to  converts  visiting  this  country,  instead 
of  giving  it  to  responsible  committees.  This  practice  is  to  a  certain 
extent  responsible  for  the  origin  of  Ethiopianism,  of  which  Mzimbaism 
is  an  off-shoot.  An  '  Independent  Mission '  is  one  dependent  on 
foreign  aid,  while  the  missionary  is  independent  of  those  whose  guidance 
he  needs.  Money  without  the  usual  business  control  has  proved  a 
great  snare  to  many. 


HISTORY  REPEATING  ITSELF  297 

provide  a  college  for  the  natives.  If  Ethiopianism 
thus  brought  to  Stewart  great  sorrow,  it  also  brought 
him,  indirectly,  not  a  little  joy. 

The  early  history  of  Ethiopianism  has  been  exactly 
repeated  in  a  surprising  fashion.  The  '  Legal '  Free 
Church  of  Scotland  were  urging  their  claim  for  a 
share  of  the  Mackinnon  Bequest  of  ;^i  50,000  for 
missions  in  Africa.  At  the  same  time  two  dis- 
appointed native  probationers  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Lovedale  were  eager  for  ordination,  and  had 
failed  to  gain  it  by  the  usual  methods.  They  claimed 
to  be  faithful  adherents  of  the  old  Free  Church  of 
Scotland,  and  lifted  up  their  protest  against  the 
Union.  Last  year  two  deputies  from  the  Legal 
Free  Church  visited  the  African  dissentients.  Not 
in  Plutarch's  Lives  can  we  find  so  close  a  parallel 
as  unites  the  early  careers  of  the  Negro  Bishop  and 
the  White  Deputies,  In  the  reports  of  the  two 
deputations  we  observe  the  same  royal  welcome, 
the  same  display  of  native  horsemanship,  the  same 
eagerness  of  native  missionaries  for  ordination,  the 
same  readiness  to  accept  the  applicants'  estimates 
of  their  own  qualifications,  the  same  forgetfulness 
of  the  Apostolic  injunction  to  '  lay  hands  suddenly 
on  no  man,'  the  same  eloquent  congratulations,  the 
same  fostering  of  divisions  and  alienations.  But  the 
parallel  is  not  perfect.  The  friends  of  the  Negro 
Bishop  understood  perfectly  what  they  wanted  :  it 
is  not  easy  to  believe  that  the  followers  of  the  White 
Deputies  did  so.  They  professed  to  understand  the 
questions  about  which  there  were  conflicting  opinions 
among  the  Law  Lords  in  England  and  Scotland. 
The  Kafir  language  has  no  word  for  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Church  by  the  State,  the  dogma  upon 
which  the  House  of  Lords  based  its  decision.     If  a 


298  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

passable  equivalent  could  be  found  for  the  'principle 
of  Church  establishment,'  it  would  probably  convey 
no  meaning  to  the  native  mind.  Many  of  those 
whom  the  deputies  welcomed  could  neither  read  nor 
write.  In  Scotland  a  probationer  from  another 
Church  is  admitted  only  after  a  prolonged  and  care- 
ful process  which  is  fixed  by  Church  law.  But  the 
Scotch  deputies  refused  to  meet  with  the  missionaries 
formerly  in  the  same  Church-communion  with  them- 
selves, who  could  have  given  them  reliable  information 
about  the  applicants.  They  telegraphed  home  for 
permission  to  ordain  the  native  probationers,  and 
ordained  them  on  the  spot. 

Ere   long   the    Negro   Bishop^    was    deeply   dis- 
appointed with  his  efforts  at   church-making,  and 

^  Here  is  part  of  a  recent  speech  by  the  Bishop  of  Kafraria.  '  He 
would  like  to  say  that  he  thought  if  the  old  Free  Church  at  home  knew 
how  it  was  being  exploited  by  designing  natives,  how  men  who  had 
no  character  whatever  had  succeeded  in  using  them  to  empty  churches 
of  old  Free  Church  missionaries  who  spent  their  lives  among  the 
natives,  he  thought  they  would  be  very  sorry  that  they  had  ever  been 
so  deluded.  The  natives  were  very  sharp.  They  did  not  understand 
the  subtle  point  of  discipline  which  separated  the  Free  Church  from 
the  United  Free  Church.  He  was  afraid  the  Free  Church  thought 
they  did.  The  natives  understood  that  where  waters  were  troubled 
it  might  be  good  to  fish.  They  saw  there  was  a  dispute,  and  they  were 
always  spoiling  for  a  fight — if  it  was  anything  of  a  legal  fight  so  much 
the  better.  They  were  devoted  litigants.  When  he  saw  this  trouble 
was  on,  a  native  ex-Presbyterian  minister  saw  his  opportunity,  and  he 
cabled  home  to  the  Free  Church  more  than  once  to  say:  "We  have 
not  joined  the  union.  We  are  quite  disposed  to  remain  under  the  old 
status" — he  had  lost  his  status  long  ago — "and  we  are  quite  prepared 
to  manage  these  properties  for  you  " — to  manage  Lovedale — (laughter) 
— and  other  large  stations.  There  was  just  a  chance  that  they  might 
get  these  stations  to  manage.  It  was  a  desperate  delusion.  To  them 
who  knew  the  natives  it  was  incredible  that  they  should  have  any 
interest  in  the  matter  at  issue.  It  had  been  most  pathetic  to 
watch  these  good  missionaries  going  to  their  churches  on  Sunday 
mornings  and  finding  their  places  nearly  empty  simply  from  these 
intrigues.' 


NEGRO  CHURCHMANSHIP  299 

was  disposed  to  admire  the  horsemanship  more  than 
the  churchmanship  of  the  Ethiopians.  Time  will 
show  whether  the  parallel  between  the  Negro  and 
the  Scottish  deputies  will  be  as  close  in  its  sequel 
as  it  was  in  its  beginning. 


CHAPTER    XXVIII 

THE   MODERATOR,    1899-I9OO 

The   Genius   of   Presbyterianism — Missionary   Moderators — 
Dr.  Stewart's  Addresses — His  Speech  at  Washington. 

'  For  eschewing  confusion  in  reasoning,  the  whole  Assembly  present 
named  Mr.  George  Buchanan,  Principal  of  St.  Leonard's  College  in 
St.  Andrews,  Moderator  during  the  Convention." — From  Minute  of  the 
Appoiritmcvt  of  the  first  Moderator  of  the  Church  of  Scotland. 

'Of  necessity  it  is  that  Generall  Assemblies  maun  be,  in  the  which 
the  judgment  and  gravitie  of  many  may  concur  to  correct  or  to  represse 
the  folyes  or  errouris  of  a  few." — Johii  Knox's  Works ^  ii.  296,  297. 

'  It  was  a  maist  pleasant  and  comfortable  thing  to  be  present  at  these 
Assemblies,  there  was  sic  frequencie  (large  attendance)  and  reverence." — 
James  Melville's  Diary. 

'  Presbyterianism  means  organised  life,  regulated  distribution  of  forces, 
graduated  recognition  of  gifts,  freedom  to  discuss,  authority  to  control, 
and  agency  to  administer." — Principal  Rainy. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  is  at  once  a  thorough 
democracy  and  a  thorough  aristocracy.  In  it,  as 
in  the  New  Testament  Church,  no  one  person  is 
priest  because  all  are  priests,  and  Jesus  Christ  is 
the  great  High  Priest.  It  is  one  of  the  marvels 
of  history  that  the  Apostles  founded  a  perfect 
democracy  in  the  heart  of  a  military  despotism, 
and  for  a  society  composed  largely  of  downtrodden 
slaves.  The  Apostolic  Catholic  Church  is  thus  the 
mother  of  free  institutions.  According  to  the  New 
Testament  model,  all  the  officers  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  are  chosen  by  the  members,  and  men  and 


A  DEMOCRATIC  ARISTOCRACY  301 

women  have  an  equal  right  to  vote.  But  in  so  far 
as  it  approaches  its  ideal,  the  Church  of  Christ  is 
a  perfect  aristocracy,  for  all  its  members  are  the 
professed  followers  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  should  form 
an  aristocracy  of  character  and  service,  and  so  secure 
the  virtues  a  democracy  demands.  The  aim  of 
this  divine  democracy  is  to  unite  all  classes  as 
equal  before  God,  in  one  holy  fellowship  and 
brotherhood. 

Hence  it  follows  that  all  ordained  Presbyterian 
pastors  are  equals  in  respect  of  privilege  and  position. 
There  is,  however,  one  apparent  exception  to  this 
'  Presbyterian  parity.'  Every  year  a  President  is 
chosen  as  the  highest  official  of  his  Church.  He 
presides  over  the  General  Assembly — its  supreme 
Court  or  Parliament — which  sits  in  Edinburgh  during 
ten  days  in  May,  in  what  Mr.  Gladstone  pronounced 
to  be  '  the  finest  audience-hall  he  had  seen  or  used.' 
This  President  is  called  a  Moderator,  as  he  is  to 
moderate  or  restrain  all  excesses  or  irrelevancies  in 
debate,  and  secure  that  all  things  are  done  decently 
and  in  order. 

When  the  Free  Church  severed  its  connection  with 
the  State,  in  1843,  the  then  Moderator,  Dr.  Welsh, 
headed  the  procession  in  the  full  court  dress  which 
he  was  wearing  in  recognition  of  the  presence  of  the 
Lord  High  Commissioner  as  the  representative  of 
the  Sovereign.  His  example  was  followed  regularly 
till  1900,  and  with  one  exception  it  has  been  followed 
since.  The  Moderator's  dress,  with  lace  and  ruffles 
knee-breeches,  silver-buckled  shoon  and  cocked-hat 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  over  all,  the  Geneva  gown 
and  bands,  is  therefore  an  interesting,  and  to  some 
a  pathetic  piece  of  antiquity. 

The    first    Moderator    was    the    famous    George 


302  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

Buchanan,  '  a  stoik  philosopher,  of  guid  religion  for 
a  poet.'  He  was  succeeded  by  '  John  Erskine  of 
Dun,  Knyght,'  who  also  was  not  an  ordained  pastor. 
Since  then  all  the  Moderators  have  been  pastors. 
During  the  fifty-seven  years  of  its  separate  existence, 
the  Free  Church  of  Scotland  five  times  called  a 
missionary  to  the  Moderator's  chair — a  remarkable 
proof  of  the  Church's  appreciation  of  her  missions 
and  her  missionaries. 

The  first  of  the  five  was  the  Rev.  Dr.  Alexander 
Duff  of  Calcutta,  who  had  the  peculiar  honour  of 
twice  occupying  the  highest  seat  in  the  Church.  In 
1 85 1,  at  the  unusually  early  age  of  forty-five,  he  was 
the  first  missionary  to  fill  the  Moderator's  chair,  and 
he  was  Moderator  again  in  1873.  Dr.  John  Wilson 
of  Bombay,  Dr.  Thomas  Smith  of  Calcutta,  and 
Dr.  William  Miller,  C.I.E.,  of  Madras,  were  also 
Moderators.  Dr.  Stewart  was  Moderator  in  1899. 
The  present  Moderator  of  the  now  United  Free 
Church,  is  Dr.  Robert  Laws  of  Livingstonia.  In 
1888,  the  Rev.  Williamson  Shoolbred,  D.D.,  of 
Rajputana,  was  Moderator  of  the  United  Presbyterian 
Synod,  and  the  Rev.  John  Robson,  D.D.,  formerly 
an  Indian  missionary,  was  Moderator  in  1899.^ 

Before  leaving  Lovedale  for  Scotland,  Dr.  Stewart's 
staff  presented  him  with  an  address  and  a  sum  of 

^  A  learned  Indian  Professor  of  Science  recently  declared  his  con- 
viction that  the  future  Indian  historians  of  India  would  give  the  first 
place  among  their  British  benefactors  to  Alexander  Duff  of  Calcutta, 
John  Wilson  of  Bombay,  and  William  Miller  of  Madras.  He  was 
aware,  he  said,  that  English  historians  would  claim  the  honour  for 
some  of  their  warriors  and  statesmen.  The  reason  he  gave  for  his 
assurance  was,  that  these  three  missionaries  have  done  more  than  any 
others  to  secure  for  influential  Indians  the  education  which  alone  can 
fit  them  for  occupying  their  rightful  position  among  the  nations  of  the 
earth. 


A  SUCCESSFUL  MODERATOR  303 

money  to  provide  his  Moderator's  gown.  The 
address  recorded  with  warm  appreciation  his  services 
to  Lovedale  and  missions.  We  quote  only  the  closing 
words :  '  We  desire  to  include  Mrs.  Stewart  in  our 
congratulations.  She  has  had  a  very  great  share  in 
the  work  of  Lovedale,  and  her  gracious  influence  has 
been  felt  throughout  every  department.  Her  wise 
advice  and  kindly  sympathy  have  been  greatly 
valued,  and  will  be  much  missed  by  us  all.  We 
trust  that  you  and  your  family  will  have  a  safe 
and  pleasant  voyage  home,  and  we  can  assure  you 
of  a  hearty  welcome  on  your  return.  It  is  our 
earnest  prayer  that  the  blessing  of  God  may  attend 
you  in  the  work  to  which  you  go  forward,  and  that 
you  may  have  much  pleasure  and  success  therein.' 

Dr.  Stewart  was  the  first  African  missionary,  and 
the  second  physician  who  had  ever  presided  over 
a  Scottish  General  Assembly  He  presided  with 
dignity,  tact,  alertness,  and  efficiency.  Like  the 
Speaker  in  the  House  of  Commons,  he  spoke  as 
little  as  possible  during  the  deliberations,  and  secured 
as  many  opportunities  as  possible  for  others.  He 
had  the  art  of  leaving  off,  and  the  still  greater  art  of 
not  beginning  except  when  speech  was  really  neces- 
sary. Except  at  the  opening  and  closing  of  Assembly, 
he  seems  to  have  spoken  only  once  during  the 
sittings.  It  was  when  the  young  missionaries  were 
presented  to  the  Assembly.^ 

The  Moderator  delivers  an  opening  and  closing 

*  Harry  W.  Smith,  Esq.,  W.S.,  Secretary  of  Dr.  Stewart  when 
Moderator,  writes  : — '  It  was  a  privilege  and  an  education  of  the  best 
and  highest  kind  to  have  been  associated  with  Dr.  Stewart.  His 
large-heartedness,  his  genial  bearing  to  all,  his  noble  simplicity,  his 
untiring  energy,  never  failed  to  attract  all  who  came  into  contact  with 
him,  and  his  influence  for  good  will  ever  remain  indelibly  impressed 
upon  those  of  us  who  had  the  privilege  of  his  friendship.' 


304  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

address.  Dr.  Stewart's  first  theme  was — '  The  King 
of  the  World,  or  Christian  Imperialism.'  His  motto 
was  from  Browning — '  We  gave  the  Cross  when  we 
owed  the  Throne.'  He  gratefully  acknowledged  the 
honour  conferred,  through  him,  on  African  Missions 
and  the  medical  profession.  He  rejoiced  in  the  new 
interest  in  Africa,  in  its  mysteries  and  magnetic 
attractions.  His  favourite  convictions  about  missions 
and  civilisation  were  earnestly  expounded  in  a  spirit 
of  Christian  optimism.  He  pled  for  a  Christian 
interest  in  Africa,  '  whose  soil  has  been  soaked  in 
blood,  and  its  sky  filled  with  tortured  cries.'  '  All 
questions,'  he  said,  'as  to  the  final  success  of  the 
work  may  be  set  at  rest.'  In  support  of  his  hopeful- 
ness, he  mentioned  the  astonishing  fact,  commented 
on  by  Lecky  and  Kidd.that  ancient  history  contains 
only  some  ten  or  twelve  scornful  references  to  the 
Church  during  the  first  three  centuries,  and  3^et  the 
new  faith  was  all  the  while  preparing  a  mine  and 
setting  a  train  which  was  soon  to  explode  and  tear 
up  heathenism  from  its  lowest  depths.  He  cherished 
the  hope  that  such  an  experience  might  be  repeated 
in  our  day.  In  modern  phrase,  and  only  on  their 
spiritual  side  and  in  the  interests  of  missions,  he 
expounded  the  great  historic  Scottish  ideas  of 
Christ's  Crown  and  Covenant,  the  Headship  of 
Christ  over  the  nations,  and  the  Crown  rights 
of  the  Redeemer.  He  expatiated  on  the  mission 
of  Christianity  to  Christianise  the  whole  world,  and 
avowed  his  conviction  that  the  Church  which  devoted 
itself  most  heartily  to  this  imperial  work  would  come 
to  the  front  among  the  Churches  of  the  world's  future. 
This  great  Christian  Imperialist,  then  in  his  sixty- 
eighth  year,  declared  that  if  his  Church  were  disposed 
to  adopt  a  bold  missionary  policy,  he  was  willing  to 


THINGS  PRIMARY  AND  SECONDARY      305 

go  again  as  a  pioneer.  *  Visionary  it  is  not,'  he  said, 
'  but  so  far  as  the  human  eye  can  see,  it  is  a  vision 
of  the  world  and  the  wonders  that  shall  be.'  .  ,  . 
'Twenty-four  years  ago,'  he  said,  'on  the  floor  of 
this  house,  a  certain  proposal  was  made  by  the 
individual  who  has  now  the  honour  to  address  you. 
.  ,  .  That  idea  or  proposal  was  to  plant  Christianity 
on  the  shores  of  Lake  Nyasa,  a  region  where  Chris- 
tianity had  never  been  since  rivers  into  ocean  ran. 
Has  the  Free  Church  been  any  the  worse  for  that 
Livingstonia  Mission?' 

In  his  closing  address  he  discoursed  on  'Things 
Primary  and  Secondary.'  It  was  then  the  pen- 
ultimate Assembly  before  the  union  of  the  two 
Scottish  Churches.  The  most  notable  part  of  his 
address  was  his  appeal  to  the  protesting  minority,  and 
the  last  public  appeal  to  them.  His  words  derived 
fresh  significance  from  the  fact  that  to  some  extent 
he  had  sympathised  with  them,  and  they  had  counted 
on  him  as  one  of  their  party.     He  thus  spoke  : — 

'  We  are  on  the  eve  of  great  changes.  The  widen- 
ing of  men's  thoughts  on  the  great  unity  of  the 
Church  has  grown  not  only  with  the  process  of  the 
suns,  but  with  the  progress  of  the  Church  and  its 
advance  in  its  true  conception  of  the  real  object  of 
its  existence  and  its  true  work.  This  has  rendered 
it  needful  to  reconsider  our  position  and  to  ask 
whether  more  good  can  not  be  accomplished  by 
throwing  in  our  lot  with  the  majority  than  by  hold- 
ing out  any  longer.  My  appeal  and  earnest  request 
is  that :  "  We  hang  the  trumpet  in  the  hall,  and 
study  war  no  more  " ;  in  other  words,  that  we  shall 
now  begin  to  practise  what  we  preach  for  the  sake 
of  the  unity  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 

'  I  might  add  many  other  reasons.  Here  is  one. 
U 


3o6  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

It  is  a  sign  of  the  times.  There  is  no  more  marked 
feature  of  the  last  half-century  than  the  growth  of 
association.  Men  beh'eve  that  by  association,  co- 
operation, or  union,  they  can  accomplish  a  great  deal 
more  than  when  acting  singly  and  alone.  Every- 
thing now  is  done  by  association,  with  liability 
limited  or  unlimited.  Let  us  apply  this  principle  to 
our  service  in  the  Church.  When  the  majority 
moves  let  us  move  with  it.  Let  us  not  sulk  in  our 
tents.  When  the  right  time  comes  let  us  go  in  a 
solid  body,  and  leave  not  a  stick  or  a  dirk  behind. 
There  are  other  battles  to  fight.  And  so,  dear 
friends.  Fathers  and  Brethren,  whether  you  come  or 
not,  I  am  going  over  the  valley  to  the  other  camp, 
and  that  for  some  further  reasons  I  shall  now  state. 
I  believe  that  there  is  daily  growing  amongst 
Christians  more  real  regard,  esteem,  and  recognition 
of  other  men's  Christianity.  This  regard  is  modified 
no  doubt  by  the  influences  of  education,  association, 
and  other  eidola  or  disturbing  causes  such  as  Bacon 
pointed  out  as  affecting  the  human  mind  on  all 
subjects.  They  affect  the  Church  as  well  as  the 
schools  of  thinking.  We  are  like  men  in  a  mist ;  or 
like  sections  of  an  army  in  the  darkness,  mistaking 
each  other,  and  attacking  each  other  because  we 
have  not  the  same  regimental  facings  on  our  coats, 
or  a  slightly  different  regimental  flag.  Let  me  not 
be  misunderstood  as  throwing  about  self-confident 
blame  on  other  Churches  of  the  world,  and  freeing 
ourselves. 

CAUSES   WHICH   KEEP   CHURCHES   APART 

'  Amongst  the  causes  which  keep  Churches  apart,  it 
is  possible  or  probable,  I  think,  that  mistakes  have 


HINDRANCES  TO  UNION  307 

been  made  by  exalting  to  the  rank  of  primary  duties, 
and  raising  to  corresponding  primary  places  in 
belief,  certain  things — call  them  ideas,  views,  opinions, 
or  deductions  from  Scripture — about  which  Jesus 
Christ  has  said  nothing.  These  ideas  may  concern 
Church  government,  that  perpetual  bone  of  con- 
tention. Church  ceremonial,  or  even  doctrine  itself, 
or  the  special  duties  of  individuals.  It  is  possible 
also,  seeing  the  width  and  general  freedom  of 
Scripture  statement,  that  some  of  these  views  may 
have  been  evolved  from  the  Church's  inner  con- 
sciousness rather  than  from  another  and  safer  source. 
It  is  not  that  such  things  or  ideas  themselves  are 
wrong  or  unimportant,  but  that  they  are  put  in  wrong 
places,  and  are  exalted  to  positions  which  they  do  not 
deserve,  and  which  belong  to  something  very  much 
higher  and  greater,  and  that  is  the  true  spirit  of 
Christianity  itself,  and  the  practice  and  exhibition  of 
that  charity  which  we  are  solemnly  assured  will  live, 
long  after  these  things  have  vanished  away. 

*  In  our  estimation  of  the  value  of  these  things,  and 
in  our  decisions  as  to  what  shall  be  regarded  as 
primary  and  what  as  secondary  in  the  Church's 
testimony  and  activity,  it  is  possible  that  our  judg- 
ments, and  the  judgments  of  those  who  have  gone 
before  us,  may  also  have  been  affected  by  the  in- 
evitable narrowness  and  weakness  which  clings  to 
the  human  mind.  It  is  possible,  nay,  it  is  historical, 
as  it  is  the  saddest  chapter  in  the  history  of  religion, 
that  at  times  even  human  bitterness  and  the  feelings 
and  jealousy  of  sect  or  Church  have  played  their 
parts.  These  feelings  may  come  to  us  in  the  guise 
of  angels  of  light,  though  they  are  not  that  at  all,  but 
angels  of  darkness  ;  and  they  may  have  told  us  this 
lie,  that  by  the  intensity,  zeal,  and  perhaps  even 


3o8  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

bitterness  with  which  we  fight  for  these  secondary 
things,  we  are  making  ourselves  more  really  the 
defenders  of  Christ's  truth.  These  false  counsellors 
did  not  tell  us  that  some  of  these  things  were  the 
secondary  laws  of  Christ's  Church  and  kingdom  ; 
and  that,  the  more  time  that  is  spent  on  lifting  them 
up  to  the  rank  of  first  importance,  the  less  time  and 
strength  the  Church  has  for  its  primary  duty — the 
care  and  conversion  of  souls  at  home,  and  the  spread 
of  the  knowledge  of  Christ  among  the  millions  of 
men  abroad,  who  hardly  know  they  have  souls  at  all ; 
to  whom  life  is  great  darkness  and  a  great  perplexity, 
and  death  a  still  deeper  darkness  and  a  more 
baffling  mystery.  These  false  angels  did  not  tell  us 
that  whole  centuries  of  the  Church's  existence  have 
been  spent  in  dealing  with  such  controversies ;  and 
that  the  energies  of  some  of  the  strongest  minds  and 
most  loving  hearts  with  which  God  has  blessed  the 
Church  have  been  consumed  in  this — I  will  not  say 
internecine,  but  inter-ecclesiastical  war,  with  the 
result  of  leaving  the  hostile  denominational  camps 
more  hostile  than  before.  Our  one  Teacher,  Master, 
and  Commander,  is  Jesus  Christ,  and  that  to  which 
He  mainly  directs  our  attention  should  be  by  us  mainly 
attended  to ;  and  yet  we  have  learned  some  of  His 
lessons  and  attended  to  His  commands  so  badly. 

PRIMARY  AND  SECONDARY  THINGS  IN   A  CHURCH'S 

LIFE 

'  In  this  connection,  and  as  an  illustration,  I  wish 
to  be  allowed  to  quote  a  single  sentence  bearing  on 
this  great  question,  of  what  is  primary  and  what 
is  secondary  in  a  Church's  life.  The  words  were 
spoken  a  few  days  ago  to  a  Church  Society  in  this 


A  QUESTION  OF  THE  PRESENT  HOUR     309 

city.  They  were  not  addressed  to  a  Free  Church 
Society,  nor  to  a  United  Presbyterian  one.  They 
bear  on  a  question  of  the  present  hour— the  question 
that  is  agitating  the  whole  of  the  great  historical 
Church  of  England— a  controversy  about  which  we 
shall  all  hear  more  and  know  more  before  very  long. 
The  sentence  is  this:  "Is  it  possible  to  conceive  of 
Jesus  Christ  being  deeply  occupied  with  questions  of 
'  the  ceremonial  use  of  incense',  or  of  lights  on  the 
altar  I  or  of  the  wearing  of  copes,  albs,  and  vestments,  or 
of  any  other  question  of  an  ornamental  rubric  ?  "  We 
shall  all  agree,  I  think,  that  such  a  conception  is 
absolutely  impossible.  Jesus  Christ,  we  know,  was 
deeply  occupied  with  entirely  different  things — with 
human  hearts  and  human  sin,  and  with  the  sorrows 
of  those  hearts  because  of  that  sin,  and  mainly  He 
tried  to  help  those  sore  overburdened  hearts  to  a 
better  state.  What  Christ  did  is  the  primary  work 
of  His  Church — to  which  all  the  strength  and  time 
and  energy  of  every  minister  of  His  and  every 
member  of  His  Church  should  be  mainly  devoted 
while  life's  short  day  lasts.  That  a  question  of  this 
kind  should  be  at  this  hour  convulsing  the  greatest 
and  most  powerful  Church  of  the  Reformation  only 
shows  how  far  the  attention  of  a  Church  may  be 
distracted  and  its  energies  wasted  on  things  of 
secondary  importance.  The  blame  lies  entirely  with 
those  who  insist  on  making  these  things  of  primary 
importance.  But  these  things  have  no  more  to  do 
with  the  real  work  and  primary  duty  of  any  Church 
than  the  coat  I  have  now  the  honour  to  wear,  and 
the  triangular  hat  I  wear  when  I  go  outside,  have  to 
do  with  my  personal  Christianity.  These  externals 
and  secondaries  may  be  useful,  and  are  all  right  in 
their  own  places  as  the  accidents  or  ornaments  of 


3IO  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

work  or  office ;  they  are  all  wrong  when  they  take 
the  place  of  things  essential  and  indispensable  to  a 
Church's  life  and  efficiency. 

'  I  hope  in  what  I  have  now  said  I  shall  give  no 
offence  to  a  single  member  of  the  Ritualistic  party 
who  is  a  genuine  Protestant  at  heart.  Within  that 
section  of  the  Church  of  England  I  have  had  some 
of  my  oldest  and  most  esteemed  friends — men  whom 
I  have  loved  for  the  true  and  pure  Christianity  their 
lives  exhibited.  We  always  disagreed  when  we 
talked  about  these  things,  and  we  always  agreed 
when  we  ceased  talking.  Some  of  these  friends  are 
in  heaven  now,  and  probably  see  differently;  at  least 
they  know  more  about  the  importance  or  non- 
importance  of  these  things  than  we  do.  The  single 
sentence  I  have  made  use  of  was  addressed  the  other 
day  by  a  man  whom  I  have  the  honour  to  call  my 
old  friend,  Professor  Sir  William  T.  Gairdner,  of 
Glasgow  University,  to  the  Church  Service  Society 
of  the  Church  of  Scotland — and  it  was  addressed, 
not  as  a  commination  or  denouncement,  but  in 
brotherly  love  and  charity — the  charity  which  our 
Master  teaches  and  enjoins.  If  you  ask  why  I  have 
so  occupied  your  time  I  will  answer  thus :  Let 
nothing  but  what  is  of  primary  importance  keep 
this,  or  any  other  Church  apart  from  other  portions 
of  Christ's  Church  which  are  willing  to  work  along 
with  us.  And,  second,  let  us  be  perfectly  sure  that 
what  we  class  as  of  primary  importance  is  really  so. 
There  is  so  much  to  do  of  the  real  primary  kind — 
the  care  and  conversion  of  souls  at  home,  the  finding 
of  souls  without  number  abroad.  In  the  face  of  this 
work,  awful  in  magnitude  and  in  its  consequences,  I 
don't  think  it  matters  very  much  whether  we  have 
or  have  not  already  settled   every  question,  which 


STARS  AND  STRIPES  AND  UNION  JACK     311 

might  become  a  subject  of  pretty  warm  controversy 
if  once  we  started  on  that  work.' 

In  the  fall  of  1899,  Stewart  attended  the  seventh 
General  Council  of  the  alliance  of  Reformed 
Churches  at  Washington,  D.C.  He  was  a  com- 
manding personality  there.  He  gave  a  very  striking 
address  on  '  Yesterday  and  To-day  in  Africa.'  His 
chief  plea  was  for  union  in  the  mission-field,  union 
of  all  Presbyterian  Churches,  and  the  rousing  of  the 
Christian  Church,  ministers,  members,  and  adherents, 
to  a  sense  of  the  magnitude  of  the  work  on  hand,  and 
of  the  individual  responsibility  of  each  and  all  within 
the  Church  in  connection  therewith.  He  closed  his 
address  in  these  words :  '  Your  flag  has  had  a 
marvellous  history — short  though  the  past  has  been, 
and  as  the  lifetime  of  nations  is  measured.  And  the 
future — the  future  of  the  Stars  and  Stripes — what 
living  man  is  able  to  predict  what  that  great  and  not 
very  distant  future  shall  be  ?  There  is  also  the  other 
— the  old  Union  Jack — which,  with  all  its  faults,  is 
still  the  flag  that  has  waved  a  thousand  years  in 
the  breeze  and  battle  of  the  world's  freedom.  My 
prayer  to  God  is,  that  those  two  flags — emblems  of 
two  nations  that  God  has  gifted  with  many  blessings 
— may  ever  wave  together  in  peace,  and  that  for  no 
temporary  or  selfish  or  empty  sentimental  reason, 
but  for  the  credit  of  our  common  Christianity,  and 
for  the  good  of  the  world.  Thus  they  may  promote 
the  conditions  most  favourable  to  the  world's  peace, 
and  help  forward  the  extension  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Him  who  is  the  real  King  and  Ruler  of  this  world.* 


CHAPTER    XXIX 

THE  AUTHOR 

From  IV/io^s  WVz^jf— Appreciation  of  the  Press — Literary 
Style — A  Unique  Book  on  Missions — Dawn  in  the  Dark 
Continent. 

'  Half  a  man's  life  is  too  little  for  writing  a  book,  the  other  half  too  little 
for  correcting  it  when  written.' — Rousseau. 

'A  good  book  is  the  best  of  friends,  the  same  to-day  and  for  ever." — 
Tapper. 

Who's   Who?  for  1904  gives  the  following  list  of 
Dr.  Stewart's  publications  : — 

Lovedale,  Past  and  Present,  1884. 

Lovedale  Illustrated,  1894, 

Livingstonia,  its  Origin,  1894. 

Contributions    to    Good    Words,   the    Sunday 

Magazine,  and  Royal  Geographical  Society 

Magazine. 
Kafir  Phrase  Book  and  Vocabulary,  1898. 
Outlines  of  Kafir  Grammar,  1902. 
Dawn  in  the  Dark  Continent,  1903. 

This  list,  however,  does  not  fully  represent  his 
literary  output,  which  was  astonishing  in  so  busy 
a  man.  The  most  of  his  writing  was  done  at  night 
or  early  in  the  morning  when  the  house  was  quiet, 
and  all  the  other  inmates  were  asleep,  and  after  a 
day's  work  that  would  have  exhausted  an  ordinary 
man. 

312 


THE  JOURNALIST  313 

The  two  beautifully  illustrated  botanical  books 
mentioned  on  pages  24  and  25  are  not  in  this  list. 

Stewart  had  the  instincts  of  a  journalist,  and  he 
established  two  papers,  The  Lovedak  News  and 
the  Christiayi  Express.  The  latter  had  a  prominent 
place  in  his  thoughts.  It  was  called  The  Spectator  of 
South  Africa.  His  opinions  were  often  quoted 
in  the  newspapers,  and  they  had  great  influence 
with  the  leading  men  in  the  country.  For  many 
years  it  was  the  only  publication  that  discussed 
missionary  and  related  questions.  Stewart  edited  it 
for  several  years,  and  wrote  probably  about  three 
hundred  of  its  leading  articles.  These  ranged  over 
nearly  every  subject  affecting  the  weal  of  South 
Africa.  Indeed,  it  has  been  proposed  to  print  many 
of  them  in  book  form,  as  they  are  a  storehouse  of 
facts  and  ideas  about  the  questions  which  occupy, 
and  will  continue  to  occupy,  the  South  African 
mind.  Recent  writers  on  Ethiopianism  acknowledge 
their  obligations  to  the  articles  in  the  Christian 
Express.  Stewart  was  an  authority,  not  only  on 
mission  questions,  but  on  native  labour  and  on  the 
government  of  the  natives.  Africa  had  become  to 
him  the  native  land  of  his  heart,  the  land  in  and  for 
which  he  lived,  in  which  he  expected  to  die  and  be 
buried,  and  so  nothing  pertaining  to  it  could  be 
uninteresting  to  him. 

Even  in  his  student  days  he  wrote  for  magazines 
on  practical  and  semi-scientific  subjects.  '  Early  in 
my  life,'  he  wrote  to  a  friend,  '  I  got  the  smell  of 
printer's  ink,  and  I  have  never  got  away  from  it.' 
He  believed  in  the  power  of  the  Press,  and  employed 
it  during  the  whole  of  his  public  life.  From  his 
watch-tower  he  steadily  surveyed  a  wide  field.  He 
was  ever  on  the  alert  for  every  expression  of  opinion 


314  STEWART  OF  LOVED  ALE 

bearing  upon  the  causes  that  were  dear  to  him,  and 
by  his  articles  he  did  much  to  imbue  a  wide  circle 
with  his  favourite  ideas.  It  is  largely  due  to  him 
that  there  is  now  a  growing  interest  in  South  African 
missions. 

In  his  youth  he  was  a  great  reader,  and  his 
magnificent  memory  enabled  him  to  quote  his 
favourite  authors  correctly  to  the  end  of  his  life. 
Now  and  again  he  would  indulge  in  apt  poetical 
quotations,  but  his  ardent  practical  temperament 
and  want  of  time  indisposed  him  for  the  niceties  and 
curious  felicities  of  finished  literary  culture. 

For  him,  the  man  of  action,  the  greater  part  of 
his  library  lay  out  of  doors,  and  earnestly  and  closely 
did  he  study  nature  and  human  nature,  finding,  with 
Lord  Bacon,  that  men  are  the  best  books. 

There  is  a  French  saying,  '  The  style  is  the  man.' 
Stewart's  style  is  in  harmony  with  the  man  and 
reveals  his  peculiarities.  It  is  as  downright  and 
direct  as  Wellington's  despatches.  It  had  the  two 
qualities  which  the  poet  Cowper  liked  best :  it  was 
plain  and  neat.  While  he  had  no  time  for  cultivat- 
ing the  niceties  of  literature,  his  statements  were 
usually  vigorous  and  impressive.  A  hater  of  all 
many-syllabled  ambiguities,  he  keeps  his  eye  full  on 
the  subject,  never  using  words  instead  of  thoughts 
or  words  hard  to  be  understood.  His  sentences 
resemble  Euclid's  straight  line,  being  the  shortest 
distance  possible  between  two  points.  He  always 
knew  what  he  would  be  at,  and  made  for  it,  and 
nowhere  else. 

He  revised  his  articles  again  and  again,  and  was 
never  satisfied.  His  hatred  of  flimsy  work  extended 
to  all  the  productions  of  his  pen. 

In    addition   to    his     literary    work,   he    lectured 


A  MISSIONARY  CLASSIC  315 

frequently.  A  lecture  delivered  to  the  Royal  Geo- 
graphical Society  about  his  pioneering  in  Central 
Africa  secured  for  him  the  honour  of  fellowship  in 
that  society. 

His  heart  is  revealed  in  his  writings  as  in  a  clear 
mirror.  His  two  chief  books  are :  Lovedale,  Past 
and  Present,  and  Dawn  in  the  Dark  Continent. 

Lovedale  is  probably  unique  in  the  history  of 
missions.  In  it  he  supplies,  not  missionary  opinion, 
but  an  immense  array  of  missionary  facts,  from 
which  every  one  can  draw  his  own  inferences.  Its 
spirit  is  admirable,  for  it  is  equally  fitted  to  pro- 
pitiate those  fervent  friends  of  evangelism  who  are 
suspicious  of  educational  missions,  and  also  all  fair- 
minded  critics  of  missionary  work.  Pen  and  picture 
unite  in  making  a  very  effective  explanation  of  the 
'  Lovedale  Method.' 

Dawn  in  the  Dark  Continent'^  {\\o^  in  its  second 
edition)  is  his  greatest  literary  effort.  '  A  very 
helpful  and  excellent  book,'  says  a  missionary,  'that 
every  one  should  read  who  puts  his  hand  to  the 
Gospel  plough  in  Africa.'  It  is  a  missionary  classic, 
and  has  been  used  as  the  text-book  in  many  mission 
circles  in  Britain  and  America.  It  contains  the 
lectures  delivered  in  1902  when  he  held  the  post  of 
the  Duff  Missionary  Lectureship,  which  had  been 
founded  by  Dr.  Duff  of  Calcutta.  In  these  lectures 
he  makes  the  first  effort  to  review  all  the  Protestant 
missions  in  Africa.  He  gives  sketches  of  all  the 
Missionary  Societies  in  the  Dark  Continent,  their 
methods  and  their  fruits.  He  portrays  the  struggle 
in  Africa  between  Paganism,  Mahomedanism,  and 
Christianity,    It  will,  he  thinks,  probably  be  the  final 

^  '  To  make  this  volume  useful  for  missionary  objects,  I  kept  down 
the  price,  and  forfeited  my  royalty.' — Dr.  Stewart. 


3i6  STEWART  OF  LOVED  ALE 

struggle.  The  book  reveals  wide  reading  on  the 
subject,  a  passion  for  accuracy,  a  literary  conscience, 
and  a  fine  catholicity.  He  gives  a  very  generous 
estimate  of  the  endeavours  of  all  his  fellow-workers 
in  Africa. 

It  is  evident  that  he  cherished  a  special  sympathy 
with  the  Moravians,  the  missionary  pioneers  in 
South  Africa. 

This  book  will  be  of  great  service  to  the  future 
historians  of  missions  and  civilisation. 

'  Dr.  Stewart's  personality,'  writes  the  Rev.  H.  T.  C. 
Weatherhead  of  Uganda,  '<;aptured  me  in  his  books.' 


CHAPTER    XXX 

THE  CONVERTS 

How  Heathens  come  to  Christ — Their  Religious  Instincts — 
The  Rev.  Tiyo  Soga — King  Khama — The  Ciillinan  Dia- 
mond— Kafir  Socialism — Ethiopia's  Contribution  to  our 
Faith. 

'O  the  unworked  jewel  mines  of  Heathendom.' — Amy  Wihoti  Car- 
michael,  in  '  Things  as  they  are.' 

'The  Holy  Ghost  can  work  under  the  red  clay.' — A  Kafir  Woman. 

'  Behold  Philistia  and  Tyre,  with  Ethiopia,  this  man  was  born  there. — 
Psalm  Ixxxvii.  4. 

'  Let  us  be  thankful  for  what  they  are,  when  we  remember  what  they 
have  been.' — A  Missionary's  Advice  to  the  Critics  0/  African  Converts. 

The  traveller  who  visits  South  African  missions  will 
be  surprised  to  find  so  many  mission  stations,  and 
so  many  natives  under  the  influence  of  the  churches 
and  the  schools.  At  the  Johannesburg  Missionary 
Conference,  Stewart  confessed  that,  while  he  had 
studied  African  missions  with  great  care,  he  had 
underestimated  their  number  and  influence. 

Dr.  Noble  reports  295  different  missionary  or- 
ganisations in  Africa.  The  last  census  showed  that 
among  the  native  and  coloured  people  in  Cape 
Colony  the  Christian  Church  is  as  powerful  in 
numbers  as  heathenism  is.^      Stewart  reported  that 

^  The  last  census  gave  the  population  of  Cape  Colony  as  2,409,804, 
of  whom   1,344,498  were  returned  as  Christians.     That  number  of 

317 


3i8  STEWART  OF  LOVED  ALE 

in  the  valley  in  which  Lovedalc  stands,  there  was  not 
a  single  Christian  when  the  mission  began,  whereas 
in  1899  there  were  two  churches  in  Lovedale  itself, 
with  over  1000  members  ;  that  one  of  these  churches 
was  entirely  self-supporting  ;  and  that  there  were 
many  other  churches  in  the  district  round  about. 

The  African  mission-field  has  many  surprises. 
The  English  doctor  in  charge  of  a  large  Chinese 
compound  at  Johannesburg  said  to  me :  *  The  first 
question  these  Chinese  asked  after  their  arrival,  was 
about  a  church  where  they  could  present  their 
certificates  of  church  membership.  Seventeen  of 
them  went  to  one  church,  and  companies  of  three 
or  four  went  to  other  churches.  We  have  several 
Chinese  doctors  and  interpreters,  and  almost  all  of 
them  profess  to  be  Christians.' 

Stewart  was  always  pondering  such  questions  as 
these :  How  does  the  African  become  a  Christian  ? 
By  what  roads  does  he  move  Christwards  ?  What 
is  the  itinerary  of  his  soul  ?  How  does  Christ  cross 
the  threshold  of  the  Ethiopian  heart  ? 

These  are  intensely  interesting  questions.  If  the 
proper  study  of  mankind  is  man,  that  study  at  its 
best  has  to  do  with  the  soul,  the  noblest  part  of  man. 
In  dignity  and  usefulness  no  other  study  can  equal 
that  of  the  development  of  the  inner  life. 

The  process  which  the  missionary  witnesses  in 
the  African  mind  to-day  is  one  of  rapid  destruction. 
His  religion  is  like  one  of  those  historic  corpses 
which  has  lain  for  ages  in  a  vault,  and  crumbles 
when  exposed  to  fresh  air.  As  education  and 
civilised   ideas   spread,  the  old    order   passes  away 

Christians  included  786,725  natives  and  coloured  people.  The 
native  congregations  are  not  '  tiny '  islands  in  a  sea  of  surrounding 
paganism.     Many  of  the  churches  there  are  remarkably  well  filled. 


PASSING  AWAY  OF  THE  OLD  ORDER      319 

with  ever-increasing  rapidity.  It  is  now  a  crime  for 
the  native  to  indulge  in  practices  which  he  used  to 
consider  essential  to  his  religion.  Then  his  religious 
beliefs  have  very  little  to  recommend  them,  for  they 
consist  largely  of  devil-worship  and  inhumanity. 
As  the  Ganges  is  undermining  daily  the  sacred 
stairs  and  temples  at  Benares,  so  European  influences 
in  full  flood  are  threatening  to  overthrow  the  whole 
fabric  of  the  African's  creed.  His  religious  habits 
cannot  long  survive  the  ideas  which  have  created 
them.  The  stars  in  their  courses  are  fighting  against 
African  paganism. 

The  previous  chapters  show  that  the  native  has 
often  a  sense  of  weariness  and  disgust.  The  man  in 
him  is  dormant  but  not  dead.  For  he  has  his  own 
share  of  the  original  dowry  of  the  soul,  though  some 
have  questioned  whether  he  has  a  soul.  The  native 
under  Christian  training  often  grows  tired  of  his 
empty  and  barren  life.  '  What  a  land  of  dark  hearts 
ours  is,'  said  one  South  African.  '  I  have  a  heart  of 
mud,'  said  another.  *  Perish  our  customs  and  our 
superstitions  ! '  said  King  Lewanika  of  the  Barotsi ; 
*  they  hold  us  enchained  in  darkness,  and  conduct  us 
to  ruin.  I  see  it ! '  Livingstone  says  :  '  The  prayer 
to  Jesus  for  a  new  heart  and  a  right  spirit  at  once 
commends  itself  to  them  as  appropriate.'  We  know 
that  they  often  have  deep  and  troubled  thoughts 
about  the  mysterious  life  beyond  the  grave.  Many 
of  them  learn  wisdom  in  the  school  of  sorrow,  and 
then  turn  to  Christ. 

The  African  has  also  a  sense  of  the  superiority  of 
our  religion.  Nearly  all  heathens  have  this  feeling, 
and  many  frankly  confess  it.  But  the  feeling  is 
probably  stronger  in  Africa  than  in  any  other 
country. 


320  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

The  lives  of  undisciplined  whites,  and  of  those 
whose  religion  has  evaporated,  are  often  fitted  to 
hinder  the  work  of  the  missionary ;  but  the  natives 
soon  learn  to  make  a  distinction  between  those  who 
are  Christians  in  name  and  in  reality.  The  life  of 
the  missionary  powerfully  attracts  the  heathen. 
Few  stories  are  more  touching  and  romantic  than 
those  which  tell  how  many  of  the  most  savage  of 
Africa's  chiefs  were  drawn  to  the  great  African 
missionaries.  '  Goodness  and  unselfishness,'  says 
Livingstone,  *  impress  their  minds  more  than  any 
kind  of  skill  or  power.'  One  of  the  most  interesting 
facts  of  modern  history  is  the  favour  African 
missionaries  have  found  among  myriads  of  all 
classes,  and  this  was  due  to  their  likeness  to  Christ. 
Many  passages  in  Stewart's  life  might  be  quoted  in 
proof  of  this  statement. 

All  men,  especially  chiefless  men  like  those  in 
Africa,  have  a  craving  for  heroes.  They  are  ever 
in  search  of  men  whom  they  can  completely  trust, 
love,  and  follow.  These  cravings  have  been  cruelly 
disappointed  by  those  of  their  own  kin,  and  so  they 
have  to  go  outside  their  own  tribes  for  non-military 
heroes.  They  find  them  among  the  missionaries 
and  sympathetic  magistrates.  Stewart  had  an  im- 
mense advantage,  as  he  possessed  those  qualities  of 
bearing,  vigour,  and  fearlessness  which  the  natives 
regard  as  the  proper  tokens  of  chieftainship. 

'How  do  your  people  become  Christians?'  I  once 
asked  a  very  successful  missionary  among  cannibals. 

'  I  have  often  thought  about  that,'  he  replied,  '  and 
I  have  my  answer  ready.  They  have  all  a  sense  of 
right  and  wrong  ;  they  have  a  great  curiosity  about 
the  life  beyond  the  grave  ;  and  they  begin  to  trust 
the  missionary  as  their  true  friend.     Christ  appeals 


THE  ATTRACTIONS  OF  CHRIST  321 

to  their  sense  of  right  and  wrong.  He  meets  their 
craving  for  h'ght  about  the  future ;  and  they  wish 
to  be  in  the  same  boat  with  the  missionary.  In 
these  ways  they  are  won  for  Christ.' 

The  character  of  Christ  allures  them,  and  most  of  all 
His  death  for  our  salvation.  What  the  old  Divines 
called  the  self-evidencing  or  self-recommending  light 
has  often  supreme  power  over  heathen  hearts. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  French  mission  in 
Basutoland,  Moshesh,  the  king,  sent  a  chief  to  watch 
them.^  That  chief  became  a  Christian,  and  the 
king's  rebuke  drew  forth  the  following  retort:  'You 
told  me  that  I  was  to  put  only  one  foot  in  the 
Church,  and  to  keep  the  other  out ;  that  I  was  to 
listen  with  one  ear,  and  to  keep  the  other  closed.  I 
put  one  foot  into  the  Church,  but  I  could  not  keep 
the  other  out.' 

Those  familiar  with  the  history  of  the  African 
tribes  know  that  among  them  men  of  remarkable 
ability  have  risen  from  time  to  time.  Some  of  these 
have  adorned  the  doctrine  of  Christ.  Mention  has 
already  been  made  of  William  Koyi,  whose  youth 
was  spent  in  the  most  degrading  surroundings,  and 
whom  Stewart  regarded  as  one  of  the  noblest  men 
he  had  ever  known.  Then  there  was  Tiyo  Soga,  who 
came  to  Lovedale  clad  in  a  sheepskin  and  equipped 
only  with  a  knobkerry :  a  pure-born  Kafir  and 
thorough  gentleman,  in  whose  presence  white  men 
entirely  forgot  his  nationality  and  colour.  He  was 
the  translator  of  the  Pilgrim's  Progress  into  Kafir. 
Learned  and  eloquent,  he  was  a  preacher  able  to 
address  effectively  both  black  and  white  audiences 

^  Moshesh  was  very  diplomatic.  He  said:  'The  missionary's 
message  from  God  is  an  egg.  I  will  wait  till  it  is  hatched  before 
I  form  an  opinion  about  it.' 

X 


322  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

Two  of  his  sons  continued  his  work,  one  of  them  as 
a  medical  missionary.  He  showed  that  a  white  soul 
could  tabernacle  in  black  clay,  and  he  gained  the 
highest  esteem  of  black  and  white.  Dr.  Theal  describes 
him  as  an  *  earnest,  enlightened,  zealous,  self-denying 
Christian  missionary,  such  a  man  as  any  nation  in 
the  world  might  be  proud  of.'  Robert  Moffat's 
friend  Africaner,  chief  and  outlaw,  the  terror  of  both 
blacks  and  whites,  a  man  of  blood,  became  a  con- 
sistent Christian,  whose  soul  was  even  as  a  weaned 
child.  The  Governor  and  the  public  found  it  very 
hard  to  believe  the  fact. 

King  Khama,  the  pupil  of  the  missionaries,  is  by 
far  the  most  remarkable  Kafir  now  living.  Some 
have  called  him  the  Alfred  the  Great  of  South  Africa. 
He  tells  that  he  became  a  Christian  in  his  youth  by 
reading  the  New  Testament.  His  father  disinherited 
him,  exiled  him,  sought  to  kill  him — and  almost  did 
it — because  he  would  not  marry  many  wives  and 
follow  heathen  practices.  He  is  very  brave,  and  the 
only  man  of  whom  Lobengula  was  afraid.  He  has 
been  a  consistent  Christian  for  fifty  years,  and  writers 
of  all  sorts  have  spoken  in  glowing  terms  of  his 
ability  and  his  noble  character.  The  testimony  of 
Selous  the  hunter  is  that  '  Khama's  has  been  the 
work  of  converting  a  tribe  of  miserable  nomadic 
savages  into  a  happy  pastoral  people.'  He  who 
reads  his  Life  will  probably  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  no  ruler  in  Europe  since  the  dawn  of  history 
has  had  a  nobler  record.  The  Rev.  Edwin  Lloyd,  in 
his  Three  Great  African  Chiefs,  says  that  *  to-day 
the  most  influential  and  respected  of  the  native  chiefs 
are  Christian  chiefs.'  We  may  accept  these  pictures 
from  the  past  as  illustrations  for  the  present  and 
inspirations  for  the  future. 


SPIRITUAL  TRIUMPHS  323 

'  But  these  are  exceptions/  some  will  say.  Yes  : 
the  Cullinan  Diamond  was  an  exception;  but  it 
advertised  a  'diamondiferous'  soil,  where  other 
'finds' might  be  expected.  Large  diamonds  come 
from  mines  that  have  many  small  ones.  Among  the 
humble  African  converts  are  many  who  are  'ap- 
proved in  Christ.'  Here  is  Stewart's  testimony : 
'  You  find  native  Christians,  not  a  special  few  but 
many,  in  whom  morality  is  not  divorced  from  religion, 
and  whose  consistency  and  steadiness  are  not  beneath 
the  attainments  of  Christians  in  the  more  favoured 
lands.'  Many  missionaries  tell  us  that  the  average 
among  converts  from  heathenism  is  as  good  as  in 
our  own  country. 

In  forming  our  opinion  of  the  converts  we  should 
try  to  realise  how  great  a  thing  it  is  for  a  heathen  in 
a  heathen  land  to  become  a  Christian.  In  any  case 
it  is  a  marvellous  triumph  over  hindrances.  An 
effort  to  understand  it  would  give  us  a  deeper  sym- 
pathy with  the  convert,  and  a  worthier  appreciation 
of  his  heroism.  Dudley  Kidd,  in  his  Kafir  Socialism, 
reveals  to  us  the  additional  barriers  which  are  created 
by  the  African  system.  The  first  principle  among 
them  is  that  the  rights  of  the  clan  must  supersede 
those  of  the  individual.  Religion,  conscience,  and 
personal  responsibility  are  as  thoroughly  socialised 
as  is  the  land.  The  Church  and  State  are  absolutely 
one,  and  religious  nonconformity  is  counted  treason. 
The  whole  system  is  a  negation  of  conscience,  of 
individuality,  of  personal  freedom  and  initiative. 
The  Christian  cuts  himself  adrift  from  his  clan,  is 
branded  as  anti-social,  and  is  held  guilty  of  an 
extremely  grave  offence  against  his  people.  This 
Socialism  seems  to  have  all  the  power  of  caste  in 
India,  and  it  allows  no  room  for  the  individual  man. 


324  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

The  African  who  confesses  Christ  is  thus  likely  to 
feel  as  Luther  did  when  he  left  the  Church  of  Rome : 
*  I  felt,'  he  said,  'as  if  I  were  jumping  off  the  planet.' 
Missionaries  believe  that  this  is  one  chief  reason  why 
promising  converts  fall  away  when  they  are  separated 
from  Christian  society.  They  are  caught  in  a  mael- 
strom that  drags  them  down. 

The  ideas  of  a  clan-conscience  and  a  clan-religion 
have  been  rooted  in  their  nature,  and  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that  these  should  sometimes  overawe  and 
overmaster  the  convert  when  he  returns  to  the  kraal. 
Many  men  in  Christian  lands  are  the  slaves  of  public 
opinion,  and  fail  to  realise  and  assert  their  personal 
responsibility.  We  should  not  therefore  expect 
among  the  Africans  a  perfection  which  we  do  not 
find  among  the  most  favoured  races.  The  failures 
among  African  converts  prove  the  imperfection,  but 
not  necessarily  the  insincerity,  of  their  faith.  It  need 
not  surprise  us  that  some  among  them  are  not  sin- 
cere. The  early  Church  Fathers  complained  that 
some  of  their  fellow-professors  were  only  '  Christ- 
traffickers.' 

Many  native  Christians  in  South  Africa  set  us 
a  needed  example.  Near  Lobengula's  kraal  at  Bula- 
wayo  I  worshipped  with  a  congregation  of  Zulus 
and  Kafirs,  several  of  whom  had  been  at  Lovedale. 
They  were  nearly  all  young  men,  and  they  filled 
every  part  of  the  church,  including  the  passages. 
Many  of  them  had  recently  come  from  the 
South.  They  had  built  and  paid  for  their  iron 
church,  and  were  supporting  their  own  pastor. 
Around  them  were  white  men  who  had  left  their 
religion  behind  them  when  they  entered  that 
stronghold  of  heathenism.  In  the  same  neighbour- 
hood there  were  other  two  self-supporting  coloured 


INSPIRING  EXAMPLES  325 

congregations.      Such    native    converts    put   us   to 
shame. 

Ethiopia  may  yet  make  a  distinct  and  valuable 
contribution  to  our  common  faith.  She  has  a  pre- 
cious box  of  ointment,  the  outpouring  of  which  may 
surround  the  Church  of  Christ  with  fresh  attractions. 
Chapters  XII.  and  XXXIX.  prove  that  in  liberality  the 
African  converts  excel  many  in  the  home  churches. 
They  have  rare  gifts  of  oratory  and  music,  and  a 
notable  capacity  for  devotion.  '  The  Africans,'  says 
Bushnell,  'are  now  the  true  Nazarenes  and  Galileans 
of  the  world — they  are  humble  enough,  and  they 
know  how  to  believe.'  They  know  also  how  to 
express  their  Christian  experiences  by  a  symbolism 
of  their  own  which  is  near  of  kin  to  that  employed 
in  the  Bible.  'Jesus  Christ  is  my  forest,'  is  the 
frequent  expression  of  the  faith  of  a  South  African 
convert.  It  is  their  equivalent  for  Biblical  state- 
ments about  'God  is  our  hiding-place,'  'the  Rock  of 
our  Salvation,'  and  'our  High  Tower.'  Dr.  Godet, 
the  commentator,  says  that  one  of  the  very  best 
definitions  of  faith  was  given  by  a  Bechuana  convert : 
'  Faith  is  the  hand  which  receives  the  gifts  Christ 
offers  us.'  Livingstone  once  asked  one  of  the  natives 
what  he  understood  by  the  word  used  for  holiness. 
The  native  replied  :  '  When  copious  showers  have 
descended  during  the  night,  and  all  the  earth  and 
leaves  and  cattle  are  washed  clean,  and  the  sun- 
rising  shows  a  drop  of  dew  on  every  blade  of  grass, 
and  the  air  breathes  fresh — that  is  holiness.'  *  I 
have  leapt  the  ravine,'  said  a  Kafir  huntsman  who 
had  passed  over  the  dividing  line.  Augustine  uses 
the  same  simile,  but  not  quite  so  graphically.  Many 
of  the  converts  have  a  real  missionary  conscience. 
•  In  former  times,'  said  a  Kafir  girl, '  when  the  men 


326  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

of  our  tribe  went  to  war,  we  young  women  wanted 
to  help  them.  Christ  is  now  calling  us  to  the  war 
against  heathenism,  and  we  girls  must  help  in  the 
fight.' 

'  We  have  been  made  slaves  for  man,  and  we  can 
be  made  slaves  for  Christ,'  said  an  African  freedman. 
'  Do  you  know,'  a  convert  at  the  Victoria  Falls  said 
to  Coillard,  'at  one  time  the  current  had  already 
carried  me  away?  I  should  have  been  swept  into 
the  abyss,  and  have  perished.  Jesus  came  with  His 
canoe,  he  saved  me  and  placed  me  on  the  bank,  and 
shall  I  throw  myself  into  the  ravine  again  ?  God 
forbid!' 

Ethiopia  has  sheltered  both  the  Law  and  the 
Gospel,  both  Moses  and  Christ.  The  Queen  of 
Sheba,  Simon  the  Cyrenian  bearing  Christ's  cross, 
and  the  Ethiopian  eunuch  may  be  accepted  as  the 
leaders  in  a  great  procession  moving  Christwards. 
African  missions  are  always  making  additions  to 
that  throng.  Christianity  has  had  hitherto  a  Western 
career  and  a  Japhetic.  It  seems  as  if  the  set  time 
to  favour  Africa  were  now  come,  and  facts  like 
Uganda  and  Livingstonia  favour  the  hope  that  it 
is  coming  speedily.  It  may  be  that  in  our  day  the 
story  of  the  Infancy  shall  be  repeated  on  a  large 
scale,  and  that  Christ,  rejected  by  many  of  the 
mighty  in  the  most  favoured  lands,  will  again  find 
a  home  among  the  humbler  races  in  Africa.  The 
Bible,  neglected  by  the  children  of  culture  in  Chris- 
tian lands,  is  finding  eager  and  successful  students 
of  the  same  blood  and  spirit  as  the  Ethiopian 
eunuch,  God's  seeds  have  been  sown  plentifully 
in  Africa,  and  they  are  growing  both  under  and 
above  the  ground. 


CHAPTER    XXXP 

SOUTH   AFRICAN    BY-PRODUCTS 

The  Mont  Aux  Sources — How  Languages  have  been  reduced 
to  Writing — Livingstone's  Services — John  Mackenzie — 
Coillard  of  the  Zambesi — Moshesh — Basutoland — King 
Lewanika — Our  Empire-builders — A  Plea  for  Missions. 

'Joseph  is  a  fruitful  bough,  even  a  fruitful  bough  by  a  well,  whose 
branches  run  over  the  wall.' — Genesis  xlix.  22. 

'Seek  ye  first  the  Kingdom  of  God  and  His  righteousness,  and  all  these 
things  shall  be  added  unto  you'  (given  into  the  bargain,  or  as  by-pro- 
ducts).— Jesus  Christ. 

'Facts  form  the  fuel  with  which  missionary  fervour  is  fired  and  fed.' — 
Mackay  of  Uganda. 

'  The  Government  had  learned  to  know  the  use  of  missionaries  in  East 
Africa.  In  all  departments  of  life,  the  missionary  there  was  essential  to 
progress.' — TAe  Marquis  of  Salisbury. 

The  Mont  Aux  Sources  in  the  Drakensberg  still 
retains  the  name  given  to  it  by  Gosselin,  one  of 
the  earliest  of  the  French  missionaries  and  the  first 
white  man  who  discovered  it,  or,  at  least,  made  it 
known.  It  is  the  *  many-fountained,'  to  use  Homer's 
phrase,  and  the  well-head  of  the  great  African  rivers. 
From  the  Tugela  to  the  Orange,  from  the  Vaal  to 
the  St.  John's,  all  are  replenished  from  its  bountiful 

^  In  addition  to  the  books  mentioned  in  previous  chapters,  Bryce's 
Impressions  of  South  Africa  and  the  Africander  Land  by  Colquhoun 
have  been  consulted  in  the  preparation  of  this  chapter. 

827 


328  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

and  perennial  springs.  Had  they  speech,  they  might 
say  to  that  mountain,  '  All  my  well-springs  are  in 
thee.' 

Christian  missions  guide  us  to  the  Mont  Aux 
Sources  of  those  influences  which  have  largely  made 
South  Africa  what  it  is  to-day.  All  these  are  the 
off-spring  of  one  sweet  spring  on  a  hillside  in  Galilee, 
though  many  who  prize  the  ever-flowing  streams 
forget  the  source. 

After  Livingstone,  Stewart  has  probably  had  as 
large  a  share  as  any  other  man  in  creating  and 
guiding  these  influences.  A  brief  review  of  the 
social  development  of  the  land  may  be  welcome  to 
the  reader,  as  Africa  is  now  probably  the  most 
interesting  part  of  the  globe.  Out  of  this  wonder- 
land will  come  another  new  surprise  to  him  who 
studies  this  subject 

While  the  missionary  plants  one  limb  of  his  com- 
pass at  the  centre,  which  is  Christ,  he  makes  a  very 
wide  sweep  with  the  other  limb  till  his  circle  encloses 
everything  fitted  to  make  the  native  a  Christian 
man,  a  manly  Christian,  and  a  good  citizen.  We 
have  seen  that  Stewart  wished  this  circumference 
to  embrace  every  part  of  the  native's  life.  In  South 
Africa  more  than  in  any  other  land  have  missionaries 
been  directly  and  indirectly  empire-builders  and 
moulders  of  national  history.  In  these  directions 
Stewart  has  had  a  large  share,  and  it  will  probably 
appear  greater  in  the  future  than  it  does  to-day. 

The  missionaries  are  like  modern  chemists  who, 
when  manufacturing  one  article,  have  also,  to  their 
surprise  and  joy,  produced  other  precious  articles, 
which  they  call  by-products.  Stewart's  whole  heart 
was  given  to  the  winning  of  the  natives  to  Christ, 
but  he  appreciated  as  much  as  Dr.  Chalmers  did,  the 


THE  GIFT  OF  TONGUES  329 

widespread  civil  and  social  benefits  which  accom- 
pany and  flow  from  pure  religion  and  undefiled. 

One  hundred  years  ago  the  Kafirs  had  no  written 
language.  Who  reduced  it  to  writing?  Who  pub- 
lished the  first  grammar  and  text-books? 

An  Indian  civilian  tells  us  that  he  has  been  ex- 
amined in  three  native  languages,  in  which  the  only 
printed  books  were  the  Bible  and  the  Pilgrims  Pro- 
gress, and  that  missionaries  were  the  only  qualified 
examiners. 

About  four  hundred  languages  have  been  reduced 
to  writing  in  recent  times.  It  would  be  interesting 
to  know  how  much  of  this  great  work  has  been 
done  by  men  who  were  not  missionaries.  Max  Miiller 
says :  '  I  date  the  beginning  of  the  science  of  lan- 
guage from  Pentecost.' 

As  several  by-products  have  been  mentioned  in 
Chapters  xix.,  XX.,  XXI.,  XXII.,  and  XXV.,  we  shall 
specify  the  one  which  bulks  most  largely  in  our 
country,  and  which  has  had  incalculable  effects. 
The  expansion  of  South  Africa  is  in  great  measure 
the  work  of  the  missionaries.  '  We  owe  it  to  our 
missionaries,'  the  Times  wrote, '  that  the  whole  region 
(South  Africa)  has  been  opened  up.  .  .  .  The  pro- 
gress of  South  Africa  has  been  mainly  due  to  men 
of  Moffat's  stamp.'  Some  of  the  earliest  main  roads 
were  known  as  the  '  Missionary  Roads,'  and  many 
place-names  preserve  the  names  of  missionaries. 
The  heralds  of  Christ  have  been  the  great  pioneers 
and  pathfinders  in  this  land.  In  these  enterprises 
Stewart  had  an  honourable  share. 

Dr.  Philip,  the  doughty  champion  of  the  natives, 
was  the  trusted  adviser  of  successive  Governments, 
and  had  a  very  great  share  in  the  liberation  of  the 
slaves.     He  called  attention  to  their  position,  and 


330  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

secured  the  sympathy  of  British  philanthropists. 
One  by-product  of  this  activity  was  the  great  Boer 
Trek  in  1836,  and  the  founding  of  the  Transvaal 
Republic. 

Livingstone's  influence  as  a  benefactor  of  Africa 
can  scarcely  be  measured.  The  history  of  British 
Central  Africa  begins  with  him.  It  has  been  said 
that  he  did  more  for  it  than  all  the  other  men  of 
his  century  put  together.  It  was  he  who  unveiled 
bleeding  Ethiopia  and  laid  her  on  the  heart  of 
Christendom,  and  so  accomplished  the  very  greatest 
results  by  the  simplest,  noblest,  and  purest  means. 
It  was  he  who  put  a  stop  to  the  slave-trade. 

The  Bechuana  missionaries  did  yeoman  service  to 
the  Empire  by  keeping  the  northern  route  open. 

John  Mackenzie,  '  South  African  missionary  and 
statesman,'  '  multiplied  the  significance  of  his  life 
by  promoting  the  expansion  of  the  British  Empire 
over  the  regions  Livingstone  explored.  He  thus 
saved  native  states  from  annihilation  by  the  Boers, 
and  ensured  the  best  colonial  rule  in  the  world  to 
vast  stretches  of  Africa '  {^Daybreak  in  the  Dark 
Continent,  by  Naylor,  an  American).  He  happily 
influenced  our  policy,  and  was  Deputy-Commis- 
sioner of  Bechuanaland.  '  Hereafter,'  the  Pall  Mall 
Gazette  says,  *  he  will  live  in  the  annals  of  our 
Empire,  for  at  a  grave  crisis  he  saved  Africa  for 
England.'  We  are  told  that  if  his  advice  had  been 
followed,  there  would  have  been  no  Boer  war. 

Newmann,  in  his  Matabeleland  and  How  We  Got 
It,  says :  '  A  treaty  of  friendship  with  the  Matabeles 
through  the  Rev.  J.  S.  Moffat  (son  of  Dr.  Moffat) 
secured  the  land  for  us.  This  is  called  the  "  Moffat 
Treaty,"  and  was  made  in  1888.  But  for  this, 
Rhodesia  would  not  have  been.' 


MISSIONARY  IMPERIALISM  331 

It  was  Sir  Bartle  Frere's  oft-expressed  opinion 
that  if  in  South  Africa  the  missionaries  had  gone 
first,  we  should  have  had  none  of  the  nine  Kafir 
wars. 

The  by-products  of  mission-work  are  found  in 
many  places.  Four  years  ago  the  contractors  for 
the  Victoria  Bridge  over  the  Zambesi  had  great 
difficulty  in  finding  riveters.  Boys  from  mission 
schools  were  trained  to  help  in  the  work.  They 
earned  two  or  three  shillings  a  day,  while  their 
fathers  could  earn  only  threepence  or  fourpence. 
Some  of  the  boys  were  employed  as  interpreters. 

The  two  most  remarkable  of  the  by-products  of 
missions  have  yet  to  be  mentioned.  They  will  con- 
vince us  that  the  romance  of  Imperialism  is  a  part 
of  the  romance  of  missions. 

In  the  Life  of  Coillard  of  the  Zambesi  it  is  said : 
'  The  French  mission  has  given  two  new  spheres  of 
labour  to  the  Church  of  God,  and,  indirectly,  two 
new  provinces  to  the  British  Empire.'  The  first  of 
these  two  provinces  is  Basutoland,  the  Switzerland 
of  South  Africa.  The  Basuto  king,  Moshesh,  was 
the  ablest  native  ruler  South  Africa  has  produced. 
He  governed  with  a  cabinet  of  French  missionaries, 
and  usually  took  their  advice.  In  1852  the  Basutos 
inflicted  a  severe  defeat  on  our  troops.  Moshesh, 
as  advised  by  the  missionaries,  sent  to  the  British 
Governor  '  the  most  politic  document  that  has  ever 
been  penned  in  South  Africa.' ^ 

^  It  is  as  follows : — 

'  TiiABA  BosiGO,  Midnight,  20th  Dec.  1852. 

'  Your  Excellency, — This  clay  you  have  fought  against  my  people 
and  taken  much  cattle.  As  the  object  for  which  you  have  come  is  to 
have  a  compensation  for  Boers,  I  beg  you  will  be  satisfied  with  what 
you  have  taken.     I  entreat  peace  from  you.     You  have  chastised  ;  let 


332  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

The  African  statesman  thus  gained  a  diplomatic 
victory  and  completed  the  work  of  the  African 
soldier.  In  1868  Basutoland  was  placed  under  the 
protection  of  our  Government  on  the  most  favour- 
able terms.  '  The  nation  has  now,'  to  quote  Bryce, 
'under  the  guiding  hand  of  the  missionaries  and 
latterly  of  the  British  Government  also,  made  greater 
progress  in  civilisation  and  Christianity  than  any 
other  Kafir  race.' 

This  simple  French  mission,  with  a  purely  spiritual 
aim,  has  *  largely  changed  Basutoland  from  a  heathen 
to  a  Christian  country.'  Imports  of  the  Basuto,  who 
had  no  use  for  a  yard  of  calico  when  the  missionaries 
found  them  in  1833,  amounted  to  ;^289,790  in  1903. 

Barotsiland  is  the  other  province  which  the  French 
mission  has  given  to  Great  Britain.  In  1890-91  it 
became  a  British  Protectorate  by  the  earnest  desire 
of  King  Lewanika.  It  is  now  known  as  North- 
western Rhodesia,  and  covers  nearly  two  hundred 
thousand  square  miles.  It  is  about  the  same  size 
as  the  whole  German  Empire.  Not  one  shot  was 
fired  for  its  annexation.  The  story  of  it  is  one  of 
the  highest  compliments  ever  paid  to  our  nation. 

Coillard  had  gained  the  complete  confidence  of 
Lewanika,  king  of  Barotsiland.  The  missionary 
said  that  as  he  was  a  Frenchman  he  would  naturally 
wish  to  see  Lewanika  in  alliance  with  France.  He 
told  the  king  that  he  must  be  under  the  protection 
of  some  nation,  and  that  Great  Britain  would  treat 
him    better    than    any   other   nation   would.      '  My 

it  be  enough,  I  pray  you ;  and  let  me  be  no  longer  considered  an 
enemy  to  the  Queen.  I  will  try  all  I  can  to  keep  my  people  in  order 
in  the  future.  O  my  master,  I  arn  still  your  man,  I  am  still  the  child 
of  the  Queen.  I  am  ashamed  of  what  happened  yesterday.  Let  it  be 
forgotten. — Your  humble  servant,  MOSHESH.' 


EMPIRE-MAKERS  333 

father,'  Lewanika  replied,  *  you  have  given  me  many 
advices.  Sometimes  I  have  taken  them,  and  some- 
times I  have  not.  When  I  have  not  accepted  your 
advice,  I  have  found  that  I  had  made  a  mistake,  and 
so  I  will  take  your  advice  this  time.'  This  is  how  in 
the  scramble  for  Africa  the  Barotsi  nation  was  saved 
amid  the  break-up  of  all  the  surrounding  tribes. 
His  biographer  is  justified  in  saying  that  Coillard 
'influenced  the  map  of  South  Africa,  and  the  natives, 
far  and  wide.' 

Stewart,  as  the  founder  of  Livingstonia,  stands  in 
the  front  rank  of  real,  though  unintentional,  empire- 
builders.  As  is  shown  in  Chapter  VIII.,  through  the 
influence  of  Livingstonia,  North-Eastern  Rhodesia 
became  a  part  of  our  Empire.  Two  missions  have 
thus  added  to  our  Empire  two  territories,  each  of 
which  is  as  large  as  Germany,  and  contains  vast 
mineral  wealth.  They  tell  us  that  England  might 
be  hid  in  this  new  territory,  and  that  the  explorer 
might  search  long  without  finding  a  trace  of  it. 
'  Thus,'  writes  Stewart,  *  the  territory  that  forty  years 
ago  was  an  utterly  unknown  land  of  wide  area,  with 
a  great  inland  sea,  has  been  added  to  what  is  slowly 
taking  shape  in  that  continent,  a  great  British 
African  dominion.  For  this  great  change  the  way 
was  prepared  by  an  easy  transition  from  a  state  of 
social  and  civil  chaos  through  the  missionary  occu- 
pation. That  occupation  was  also  just  in  time.  It 
took  place  ten  years  before  the  great  partition  of  the 
continent.  It  was  thus  explained,  not  by  a  mis- 
sionary magazine,  but  by  an  influential  political 
paper  at  the  time  of  the  proclamation  of  the  British 
Protectorate. 

'The  founding  of  the  missionary  establishments 
had  an  important  political  effect,  for  it  enabled  Her 


334  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

Majesty's  Government  to  successfully  resist  the  claim 
of  the  Portuguese  Government  to  the  whole  of  that 
territory,  to  demand  the  free  navigation  of  the 
Zambesi,  and  to  justify  the  claim  for  the  British 
Empire,  not  only  to  the  Shir^  Highlands,  but  gener- 
ally speaking,  to  the  best  parts  of  the  Nyasa 
region. 

'  This  is  true,  and  may  be  legitimately  stated, 
even  though  it  is  not  the  territorial  but  the  spiritual 
conquest  of  the  land  which  is  the  aim  of  the  mission. 
The  date  when  Christianity  enters  any  country 
begins  a  new  era  in  its  history ;  and  from  that  date 
the  life  of  its  people  begins  to  be  slowly  revolu- 
tionised. This  is  what  is  being  done  now  by  the 
Livingstonia  mission,  which  first  planted  Christianity 
on  the  western  shore  of  Lake  Nyasa.'  Cecil  Rhodes 
told  the  representatives  of  the  Scots  missions  in 
Central  Africa  that  he  owed  them  something,  as  the 
action  of  the  British  Government  at  their  suggestion 
and  on  their  behalf  encouraged  him  to  believe  that 
his  dream  about  Rhodesia  would  be  realised.  '  We 
owe  all  that  land  (Rhodesia)  to  you  Scotsmen,'  he 
said  to  one  of  the  chief  promoters  of  Livingstonia. 

Joseph  Chamberlain  described  himself  as  a  mis- 
sionary of  empire.  But  the  Christian  missionaries 
were  empire-makers  and  creative  imperialists,  and 
from  the  most  unselfish  motives,  long  before  Cham- 
berlain advocated  imperial  expansion  or  Cecil  Rhodes 
had  dreamt  of  his  Cape-to-Cairo  Railway.  The 
missionaries  desired  only  the  good  of  Africa,  and 
that  demanded  a  settled  government.  To  all  of  them 
might  be  applied  the  words  which  the  administrator 
of  North-Western  Rhodesia  (Barotsiland)  used  about 
Coillard:  'I  think  it  was  M.  Coillard's  constant 
endeavour  to  have  as  little  as  possible  to  do  with 


THE  ROMANCE  OF  MISSIONS  335 

political  questions,  and  to  alienate  himself  from  all 
controversy  and  connection  with  such  matters.' 

All  these  annexations  to  our  Empire,  without  the 
firing  of  a  single  shot  or  the  loss  of  a  single  human 
life,  are  assets  of  the  highest  value.  If  it  has  been 
our  national  destiny  to  conquer  by  the  arts  of  peace 
more  nations  than  Alexander  the  Great  and  Caesar 
ever  conquered  by  war,  it  was  chiefly  by  the  mes- 
sengers of  the  Prince  of  Peace  that  this  high  destiny 
was  fulfilled.  The  best  empire-building,  like  the 
building  of  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem,  has  been  done 
without  noise.  These  bloodless  conquests  are  by- 
products in  the  true  sense  of  the  word.  For  it  was 
no  part  of  the  original  aim  of  the  missionaries  to 
enlarge  the  possessions  of  Great  Britain.  They  had 
not  the  '  lust  of  horizon,'  nor  an  ambition  for  personal 
gain  or  fame.  They  served  the  best  interests  of  our 
Empire  all  the  more  because  they  were  loyal  to  a 
Kingdom  '  not  of  this  world.'  They  have  thus  en- 
nobled African  history.  We  have  here  not  '  Reality 
versus  Romance,'  but  '  Romance  in  Reality.'  '  South 
Africa,'  W.  T.  Stead  says,  '  is  the  product  of  three 
forces — conquest,  trade,  and  missions,  and  of  the 
three  the  first  counts  for  the  least,  and  the  last  for 
the  greatest,  factor  in  the  expansion  of  civilisation 
in  Africa.  Missionaries  have  been  everywhere  the 
pioneers  of  empire.  The  frontier  has  advanced  on 
the  stepping-stones  of  missionary  graves.'  The  last 
extension  of  our  Empire  in  South  Africa  cost  our 
nation  a  three  years'  war,  and  over  ;^200,ooo,ooo. 

The  story  of  the  growth  of  our  Empire  contains 
abundant  matter  both  for  deep  humiliation  and 
fervent  gratitude.  It  is  said  that  empires  have  been 
thrust  upon  us,  and  that  we  have  been  compelled  to 
annex,  while  protesting  against  annexation.     Our 


336  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

annexations  have  contributed  largely  to  the  weal  of 
mankind.  The  Briton  who  visits  Central  Africa 
has  good  cause  to  thank  God  for  what  his  nation 
has  done  there  in  a  very  short  time.  It  is  only 
fifteen  years  since  Lobengula  ruled  at  Bulawayo, 
the  last  stronghold  of  South  African  heathenism, 
which  appropriately  means  '  the  place  of  slaughter.' 
The  field  around  his  Great  Kraal,  or  Judgment  Seat, 
was  covered  with  the  bones  of  those  whom  he  had 
slain  for  offences  against  himself  and  for  witchcraft. 
It  is  only  thirty  years  since  Sepopa,  king  of  Barotsi- 
land,  '  used  to  amuse  himself  capturing  children  and 
throwing  them  to  the  crocodiles  (in  the  Zambesi) 
as  we  should  feed  ducks  (Coillard,  p.  270),  But 
enormous  changes  are  taking  place  in  Africa.'  The 
Briton  who  visits  Bulawayo  and  the  Zambesi  may 
thank  God  that  his  nation  has  made  life  and  pro- 
perty as  safe  there  as  at  home,  and  that  marvellous 
improvements  have  been  achieved  in  a  few  years. 
Litia,  the  heir  to  the  throne  of  Barotsiland,  has  had 
a  Christian  marriage,  and  has  made  such  progress  in 
civilisation  that  he  drives  his  own  motor-car.  Better 
still,  '  he  alone  of  all  his  countrymen  accords  to  his 
wife  the  position  in  which  Christian  marriage  places 
her ;  every  day  they  and  their  child  sit  down  to 
table  together,  European  fashion.'  Young  Ethiopians 
are  already  unable  to  believe  the  stories  of  slave- 
raiding.  These  are  unthinkable  to  them  now,  and 
seem  to  belong  to  another  planet. 

Missions  are  a  guarantee  of  peace  all  over  the 
world.  True  missionaries  are  ever  peacemakers.^ 
In  war  the  faithful  adherence  of  native  Christians 

^  '  For  the  preservation  of  peace  between  the  colonists  and  natives, 
one  missionary  is  worth  a  battalion  of  soldiers'  (Sir  Chas,  Warren, 
Governor  of  Natal). 


HONORARY  MISSIONARIES  337 

can  be  counted  on.  Christian  Kafirs  have  more 
than  once  prevented  bloodshed.  The  life  of  Soga 
informs  us  that,  in  the  wars  in  his  day,  not  one 
Christian  Kafir  took  up  arms  against  Britain,  and 
the  native  converts  helped  to  save  India  in  the 
mutiny.  Both  Anthony  Trollope  and  Sir  Bartle 
Frere  testified  *  that  nothing  would  do  more  to  pre- 
vent future  Kafir  wars  than  a  multiplication  of  such 
institutions  as  Lovedale.' 

These  facts  should  secure  a  generous  interest  in 
Foreign  Missions  among  all  classes  in  the  land, 
including  even  those  to  whom  the  by-products  are 
more  interesting  than  the  chief  spiritual  products. 
Stewart  often  appealed  for  unsalaried  helpers,  and 
his  appeal  was  not  in  vain.  He  offered  a  great  and 
alluring  field  to  those  who  wished  to  share  in  the 
regeneration  of  Africa.  Livingstone  hoped  that  the 
day  was  coming  when  rich  men  would  not  spend  all 
their  money  on  dogs  and  horses,  but  would  send 
missionaries  to  the  most  downtrodden  races.  Could 
they  make  a  better  investment  of  their  sympathies 
and  money?  But  the  appeal  is  not  to  the  rich  only. 
The  black  slab  on  Livingstone's  grave  bears  the 
inscription  :  *  All  I  can  say  in  my  solitude  is,  may 
Heaven's  rich  blessing  come  down  on  every  one — 
American,  English,  Turk — who  will  help  to  heal 
this  open  sore  of  the  world.  For  thirty  years  his 
life  was  spent  in  an  unwearied  effort  to  evangelise 
the  native  races,  to  explore  the  undiscovered  secrets, 
and  abolish  the  desolating  slave-trade  of  South 
Africa.' 

These  thirty  years  were  added  to  his  life  by  the 
generous  help  of  a  minister's  wife,  who  collected  and 
sent  him  twelve  pounds  a  year  for  a  native  assistant. 
One  of  the  most  popular  pictures  some  years  ago 

y 


338  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

was  that  of  the  lion  standing  over  Livingstone  ready 
to  devour  him.  In  the  corner  of  the  picture  stands 
Mebalwe,  the  native  assistant  secured  by  the  twelve 
pounds,  taking  aim  at  the  lion,  which  at  once  rushed 
towards  him.  Dr.  Livingstone's  life  was  thus  saved 
for  thirty  years,  during  which  he  did  nearly  the 
whole  of  his  great  work  for  Africa.  No  one  can  tell 
what  money  may  do  when  it  is  offered  in  the  right 
spirit.     For  our  small  is  often  God's  great. 

As  African  women  gain  grace  and  strength  from 
their  burdens,  so  the  Church  of  Christ  would  develop 
her  fettered  powers  by  sharing  the  general  burden 
of  the  heathen  world.  The  Church  in  its  best  estate 
is  like  the  poet's  well-fashioned  arch,  which  purchases 
strength  from  its  increasing  load. 

The  first  Foreign  Mission  report  runs:  'And  when 
they  were  come,  and  had  gathered  the  church  to- 
gether, they  rehearsed  all  that  God  had  done  with 
them,  and  how  he  had  opened  the  door  of  faith  unto 
the  Gentiles'  (Acts  xiv.  27).  Paul  and  Barnabas  re- 
ported spiritual  achievements  and  wonderful  oppor- 
tunities. No  former  age  has  witnessed  achievements 
and  opportunities  like  those  in  our  day,  and  oppor- 
tunity is  the  authoritative  finger-post  of  duty.  We 
need  now  to  pray,  not  for  open  doors,  but  for  open 
eyes,  minds,  hearts,  and  purses. 


MRS.    STEWART 


CHAPTER   XXXII 

AT   HOME 

Nobantu — Hospitality — The  Visitors — Lord  Milner— General 
Gordon — Baron  Rothschild — Entertaining  the  Natives — 
Happy  Effects  of  a  Visit  to  Lovedale. 

* Hjertrum,  Husrum'  (Heart-room  makes  house-room). — Lapp  Pro- 
verb. 

'  We  are  Allah's  guests  in  the  Desert :  strangers  are  sent  to  us  by  Allah : 
we  are  to  receive  them  as  Allah,  the  Merciful  and  Bountiful,  has  received 
us  :  the  guest  is  the  Lord  of  the  house  and  we  are  his  servants.' — From  the 
Creed  of  an  Arab  Chief  concerning  Hospitality. 

Stewart's  work  cannot  be  understood  without  a 
due  appreciation  of  his  home-life. 

Instead  of  speaking  of  Dr.  Stewart  of  Lovedale, 
his  friends  would  naturally  speak  of  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  Stewart.  She  was  a  large  part  of  the  Institu- 
tion, and  one  with  her  husband  in  mind  and  heart. 
'They  brought  duality  near  to  the  borders  of 
identity,'  as  Gladstone  said  of  Queen  Victoria  and 
Prince  Albert,  Often  at  night,  when  all  the  rest  in 
the  house  were  in  bed,  they  would  spend  an  hour 
in  consultation  and  prayer  about  their  work. 

In  her  own  sphere  she  was  as  influential  as  he  was 
in  his.  He  always  maintained  that  she  was  wiser 
and  more  efficient  than  himself.  He  thoroughly 
appreciated  the  spirit  in  which  she  accepted  the 
trials  and  anxieties  inseparable  from  his  pioneering 
work.     He  wrote :    '  Her  complete  sympathy  with 

S39 


340  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

missionary  work  and  her  sound  judgment  and  ac- 
tivity have  been  a  great  source  of  strength  to  me.* 
The  Report  of  Lovedale  for  1906  closes  with  these 
words:  'To  her  many  other  gracious  gifts  Mrs. 
Stewart  added  that  of  a  gifted  speaker,  a  capable 
organiser,  and  one  whose  personal  influence  was 
very  marked.  Forty  years  of  such  service  in  Love- 
dale  is  a  great  and  worthy  record.'  The  native  name 
for  Mrs.  Stewart  was  '  Nobantu,'  the  mother  of  the 
people. 

His  many  letters  to  his  children  reveal  the  father's 
heart.  Several  of  them  are  long  and  carefully 
printed  for  the  tiny  reader.  Here  is  one  addressed 
to  his  *  dear  wee  singing  bird  ' : — 

*  How  I  miss  your  singing  in  the  morning.  .  .  . 
I  try  to  recall  that  sweet  smile  of  yours — sweet  to 
look  at — sweeter  still  to  remember — and  sweetest 
of  all  to  see  again  if  God  shall  so  spare  us. 

*  A  gift  of  God  you  are  to  us.  May  He  who  has 
given  you,  long  continue  the  gift  to  gladden  us  and 
freshen  all  our  lives.  Sweet  token  of  God's  love, 
may  you  be  one  of  His  own,  made  still  purer  and 
sweeter  by  the  Spirit's  grace  and  the  Lamb's  blood.' 

Again  he  writes  : — 

'  I  will  tell  you  now  what  I  am  doing.  I  go 
about  the  streets  and  into  the  offices,  and  I  say  to 
this  man,  "  Give  me  a  hundred  pounds  for  Lovedale," 
and  to  another  who  is  not  so  rich  I  say,  "  Give  me 
fifty  pounds."  And  they  give  me  that  money,  and 
I  thank  them  before  I  go,  and  thank  God  too, 
because  it  is  He  that  puts  it  into  the  hearts  of 
these  men  to  give  me  money  for  Lovedale.  And  they 
give  it  because  they  love  Christ  and  have  already 
given  Him  their  hearts. 

•Now  I  am  going  to  ask  you  to  give  Jesus  some- 


CHRIST  AND  THE  CHILD  341 

thing  too.  Go  into  the  garden  and  see  if  there  are 
any  flowers.  Then  go  into  another  garden  and  you 
will  find  a  flower.  Take  it  and  say,  "  Lord  Jesus,  I 
have  nothing  else  to  give  you.  But  I  give  you  this  ; 
it  is  a  little  flower,  it  is  my  heart.  I  give  it  to 
you  because  you  love  me.  You  loved  me  so  much 
that  long  ago  you  died  for  me.  And  now  I  give 
the  little  flower  of  my  life,  and  I  pray  to  you : 

"  In  the  Kingdom  of  Thy  grace 
Give  a  little  child  a  place." 

And  He  wili  give  you  that  place,  and  you  will  be 
a  glad  and  happy  little  girl,  and  we  shall  be  so 
happy  when  we  hear  that  you  have  given  this  little 
flower  to  Christ. 

'  Do  you  remember  London,  that  great  place, 
nothing  but  houses  and  people,  nearly  as  far  as 
from  Lovedale  to  Beaufort  ?  There  are  many  poor 
children  in  London,  and  when  I  see  them,  I  think  of 
you  and  F.  .  .  .  Do  you  remember  anything  I  said 
about  a  little  flower  in  one  of  «iy  letters  ?  What 
has  become  of  it  ? 

'  I  am  wearying  to  see  you,  and  hope  to  come 
in  two  months  after  you  get  this.  I  hope  you  will 
pull  hard  on  the  ropes  and  make  the  ship  come  fast 
to  Cape  Town. 

'.  .  .  There  is  the  line  of  a  hymn  that  has  been 
in  my  mind  this  morning — it  is  this : 

"  I  heard  the  voice  of  Jesus  say 
Come  unto  me  and  rest. 
Lay  down,  thou  little  one,  lay  down 
Thy  head  upon  my  breast." 

•  Now,  dear  little  M.,  I  should  like  if  you  could 
tell  me  some  day  that  you  had  heard  Jesus  say  this, 
and  that   you  had  just  done   what    He  bids   you. 


342  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

He  is  very  good  and  kind  to  those  who  come  to 
Him.' 

One  of  his  daughters  writes  : — 

*  All  I  can  say  is  that  as  each  year  goes  by  I  miss 
father's  wonderful  tenderness  and  sympathy  more 
and  more.  I  often  think  of  his  love  and  gentleness 
to  M.  (a  grandson)  during  the  war.^  In  the  study 
at  Lovedale  I  sometimes  found  the  two  with  their 
fingers  all  inky,  and  father  so  pleased  and  laughing 
because  M.  was  "  making  his  fingers  like  Grand- 
daddy's,  and  Granddaddy  was  a  dirty  boy  too."  I 
was  not  allowed  to  take  the  wee  chap  away,  as  they 
"  were  enjoying  themselves,"  father  said.' 

They  had  one  son  and  eight  daughters,  one  of 
whom  died  early.  Their  large,  happy,  and  loyal 
family  was  an  effective  object-lesson  upon  the  Chris- 
tian home,  and  a  source  of  power  to  the  mission. 

Their  son  for  some  time  assisted  his  father  in  the 
office  at  Lovedale,  and  is  now  in  business  in  South 
Africa.  Three  of  his  daughters  are  married — two 
in  South  Africa,  and  one  in  Scotland.  Another 
daughter  was  on  the  teaching  staff  at  Lovedale. 

The  hospitality  at  Lovedale  was  unbounded. 
They  had  heart-room  for  all  their  guests ;  but  as 
the  children  knew  right  well,  they  were  often  puzzled 
to  find  house-room.  Especially  in  the  early  days 
when  their  house  was  small.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Stewart 
often  slept  in  the  study,  while  their  children  slept 
on  the  floor,  or  in  outhouses,  or  were  billeted  among 
the  teachers.  When  the  new  house  was  built,  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  Stewart's  friends  spent  upon  it  ;!{J^8oo  in 
addition  to  the  sum  granted  by  the  Committee. 
Their  idea  of  hospitality  was  like  that  of  the  Arab 

^  M.'s  father  was  the  little  boy  from  whose  wounds  Dr.  Stewart 
sucked  the  poison.     See  p.  99. 


THE  LOVEDALE  HOSPICE  343 

chief  in  Bible  lands.  He  gallops  on  his  swiftest 
steed  to  welcome  the  coming  stranger.  Stewart 
surpassed  him,  for  when  he  learned  that  a  friend  of 
his  or  of  the  mission  was  in  the  land,  he  flashed  a 
telegraphic  invitation  to  him.  The  Principal's  house 
was  thus  a  hostelry.  It  was  as  much  addicted  to 
hospitality  as  were  the  hospices  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
but  with  a  difference.  These  had  been  richly 
endowed  for  the  very  purpose  of  entertaining 
travellers,  whereas  the  hospice  of  Lovedale  was 
endowed  out  of  the  patrimony  of  the  missionary's 
family. 

From  all  parts  of  the  world  visitors  came  to  Love- 
dale.  Before  the  railway  reached  his  neighbourhood, 
Stewart's  'spider'  and  horses  had  often  to  be  sent 
twenty,  thirty,  forty,  or  sixty  miles  to  the  nearest 
railway  station  to  meet  his  guests.  He  required  five 
or  six  horses,  and  they  were  at  the  service  of  the 
staff.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Stewart  kept  open  house,  and 
almost  every  week  they  were  speeding  the  parting 
and  welcoming  the  coming  guest.  If  the  family 
had  kept  a  visitors'  book,  it  would  have  been  a 
bulky  volume.  There  was  a  hearty  welcome  for 
all,  especially  for  those  who  were  opposed  to 
missions.  They  might  stay  as  long  as  they  liked 
and  examine  every  department  of  the  Institution. 
They  had  often  from  one  to  thirteen  guests  at  a  time. 
During  six  months  the  family  never  once  sat  down 
alone  at  the  table.  A  frequent  guest  writes  :  '  It 
was  Mrs.  Stewart's  kindness  and  winsome  gracious- 
ness  which  made  the  Principal's  home  at  Lovedale 
the  most  hospitable  in  South  Africa.  At  times  she 
was  the  ministering  presence,  at  others  the  wise  and 
trusted  counsellor,  with  a  woman's  clear  discern- 
ment and  instinct ;  at  others  again  the  worker  and 


344  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

the  helper,  ever  ready  to  ease  the  burden  and  further 
the  great  cause.' 

Another  writes :  *  Jesuit  fathers,^  ministers  of  the 
Dutch  Church,  an  Anglican  archbishop,  a  visiting 
deputation  from  Scotland — all  alike  were  welcome, 
and  all  alike  went  away  delighted  with  Dr.  Stewart's 
generous  hospitality,  his  kindly  consideration,  and, 
above  all,  the  fascination  of  his  conversation.  He 
was  a  close  personal  friend  of  men  like  General 
Gordon,  Edmund  Garrett,  Sir  Bartle  Frere,  Cecil 
Rhodes,  and  Lord  Milner.  No  one  who  knew  him 
or  his  work  could  have  failed  to  come  under  the 
spell  of  his  imagination.' 

The  missionaries  on  the  staff  were  usually  the 
inmates  of  the  family  till  they  got  a  home  of  their 
own.  One  of  them  writes :  '  I  felt  at  home  with 
Mrs.  Stewart  from  the  first  hour,'  The  staff  usually 
had  a  social  meeting  in  the  Principal's  house  every 
Monday  evening,  and  also  at  other  times  to  meet 
some  distinguished  visitor. 

Stewart  thoroughly  enjoyed  congenial  society, 
though  his  abundant  labours  left  him  little  time  for 
it.  When  free,  he  was  eminently  '  clubbable,'  and 
he  made  friends  among  all  classes.  His  Ulyssean 
experience  of  men  and  cities  had  given  him  a  rich 
fund  of  incident  of  travel,  but  his  rooted  aversion 
to  speaking  about  himself  rarely  allowed  him  to 
give  bits  from  his  own  Odyssey. 

'  He  was  very  fond  of  good  music,  especially  of 
plaintive  music — that  which  holds  within  it  the  "sad, 
low  notes  of  our  humanity,"  like  the  best  Scottish 
song.  Joined  to  his  love  of  music  was  his  delight 
in  art  of  all  kinds.     Much  of  this  no  doubt  came 

^  Seven  Roman  Catholic  priests  once  sat  down  together  at  their 
table. 


LORD  MILNER  AT  LOVEDALE  345 

from  his  love  of  all  that  was  beautiful  and  har- 
monious.' 

The  Rev.  J.  E.  Somerville,  B.D.,  of  Mentone,  writes : 
'  No  words  are  sufficient  to  express  the  admiration 
which  Dr.  Stewart's  whole  bearing  and  conversation 
awakened.  Anax  andron  Agamemnon  (Agamemnon, 
prince  of  men)  were  the  words  that  came  to  one's  lips. 
He  was  a  giant  in  every  sense  of  the  term.  .  .  .  On 
Saturday  he  was  engaged  till  late  at  night  with 
Kafirs,  who  came  to  talk  about  things  temporal  and 
spiritual.  ...  I  came  away  from  Lovedale  and  the 
happy  and  beautiful  family  in  its  manse  thanking 
God  that  He  had  given  us  as  a  missionary  one  of 
the  grandest  men  it  has  been  my  privilege  to  know.' 

Dr.  Roberts  writes :  '  Lord  Milner  had  a  warm 
affection  for  him.  About  the  last  letter  he  wrote 
from  Government  House,  amid  the  press  of  many 
distracting  concerns,  was  the  following  good-bye  to 
Dr.  Stewart : — 

' "  Government  House, 
' "Johannesburg,  ind April  1905. 

'"Dear  Dr.  Stewart, — I  cannot  leave  South 
Africa  without  sending  you  one  line  of  farewell.  1 
am  living  in  a  perfect  whirl,  and  hardly  know  what 
I  am  doing.  But  I  shall  often  think,  in  moments 
of  greater  leisure,  with  pleasure  and  gratitude  of 
your  friendship. — With  deepest  esteem  and  all  good 
wishes,  yours  very  sincerely,  MiLNER." 

'  Lord  Milner  spent  four  or  five  days  at  Lovedale, 
gleaning  facts  about  native  affairs.  He  opened  a 
new  hall,  and  declared  that  Dr.  Stewart  was  "the 
biggest  human  in  South  Africa." 

'  The  deep  affection  that  Gordon  had  for  him  is 
well  known.     When  the  hero  of  Khartoum  was  at 


346  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

Lovedale  in  1882,  the  comradeship  of  the  two  men 
was  pleasant  to  see.  There  was  a  remarkable 
affinity  and  a  striking  similarity  between  them,' 

After  one  of  his  visits  General  Gordon  wrote:  *I 
am  truly  sorry  to  leave  your  quiet  abode  and  come 
back  into  a  whirl.'  When  leaving  South  Africa  in 
1882,  he  wrote: — 

*My  dear  Dr.  Stewart, — I  am  sorry  to  leave 
without  seeing  you  and  Mrs.  Stewart  and  your 
family  and  my  friends  at  Lovedale.  I  leave  for 
England  vid  Natal  on  Tuesday  or  Wednesday  next. 
I  am  sorry  I  could  not  do  anything  for  the  Colony 
except  write  reports.  My  heart  often  goes  out  to 
you  all.  I  should  wish  to  have  seen  more  of  you.' — 
With  kindest  regards  to  Mrs.  Stewart,  yourself,  and 
the  children,  and  trusting  for  help  to  your  prayers, 
believe  me,  my  dear  friend,  yours  sincerely, 

'C.  E.  Gordon.' 

Stewart's  only  son  was  called  James  Gordon  as  a 
memorial  of  this  friendship. 

Visitors  of  all  creeds  came  from  nearly  all  parts 
of  the  world.  Among  these  were  Baron  Rothschild, 
who  wrote :  '  I  think  our  visit  to  Lovedale  was  the 
most  interesting  part  of  our  journey  in  South 
Africa.' 

A  special  welcome  was  given  to  young  mission- 
aries who  v/ished  to  inquire  about  missionary 
methods. 

The  native  often  came  for  counsel  about  his  trivial 
affairs.  Stewart  shook  hands  with  his  humble  guest, 
took  him  straight  to  the  kitchen  for  refreshments. 
He  would  listen  patiently  to  the  poor  man's  story. 
People  used  to  say  that  a  native  could  get  what  he 


LORD  AND  LADY  BOUNTIFUL  347 

wanted  from  the  Principal  far  more  easily  than  a 
white  man  could.  Often  food  v/as  sent  daily  to  sick 
natives  in  the  neighbouring  location.  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Stewart  were  the  Lord  and  Lady  Bountiful  of  the 
Tyumie  Valley.  Many  thought  that  they  were 
generous  to  a  fault.  '  The  old  people  of  the  Love- 
dale  location,'  writes  one  of  his  staff,  'were  his 
special  charge.  Every  Sunday  there  was  a  dinner- 
party of  old  men  at  the  house,  and  if  any  were  too 
feeble  to  come  for  it,  the  meal  was  sent  to  them.' 
They  also  knew  that  he  had  a  canvas  bag  in  which 
he  kept  money  for  helping  the  needy. 

Towards  his  poorest  guests  Stewart's  was  no  bare 
giving.  It  was  rather  the  spontaneous  outflow  of  the 
heart  than  the  outcome  of  intention  or  endeavour ; 
and  it  was  done  with  a  refinement  of  Christian 
charity  and  chivalry.  He  thus  enlarged  the  joys 
he  possessed  by  sharing  those  he  bestowed. 

This  splendid  hospitality  was  a  powerful  aid  to 
the  mission.  A  visit  to  Lovedale  often  made  a  deep 
impression  upon  visitors  who  were  sceptical  about 
missions.  The  splendid  avenue,  the  well-kept 
gardens;  the  happy  family;  the  thoroughly  com- 
petent staff;  the  hive-like  hum  of  happy  activity; 
the  immense  array  of  young  life ;  the  girls  tripping 
along,  their  eyes  full  of  girlish  merriment,  in  striking 
contrast  with  the  sheep-like,  ox-like  stare  of  their 
heathen  sisters  at  the  kraals ;  the  genius  of  the 
place — all  these  united  to  create  the  right  mood  in 
the  critic. 

Mr.  Bryce,  in  his  Impressions  of  South  Africa, 
p.  374,  thus  describes  Lovedale:  'It  is  admitted 
even  by  those  who  are  least  friendly  to  mission- 
work  to  have  rendered  immense  service  to  the 
native.     I  visited  it,  and  was  greatly  struck  by  the 


348  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

tone  and  spirit  which  seemed  to  pervade  it,  a  spirit 
whose  results  are  seen  in  the  character  and  career 
of  many  of  its  graduates.  A  race  in  the  present 
condition  of  the  Kafirs  needs  nothing  more  than 
the  creation  of  a  body  of  intelligent  and  educated 
persons  of  its  own  blood,  who  are  able  to  enter  into 
the  difficulties  of  their  humble  kinsfolk  and  guide 
them  wisely.  Dr.  Stewart  possesses  the  best  kind 
of  missionary  temperament,  in  which  a  hopeful  spirit 
and  an  inexhaustible  sympathy  are  balanced  by 
Scottish  shrewdness  and  cool  judgment.' 

When  Stewart  heard  that  there  were  severe  critics 
of  missions  in  the  neighbourhood,  he  used  to  say : 
'  Ask  them  over,  and  let  them  see  the  work  and 
judge  for  themselves.'  Regarding  a  sceptical  critic 
on  missions,  the  late  R.  W.  Barbour  of  Bonskeid 
wrote :  '  A  visit  to  Lovedale  gave  him  new  light. 
If  it  were  nothing  else,  that  home  at  Lovedale  does 
a  work  that  one  cannot  well  value,  in  disarming 
prejudice  and  affording  at  least  the  opportunity  to 
some  who  would  otherwise  not  see  what  was  going 
on,  to  give  the  natives  a  helping  hand.' 

Mr.  Barbour  himself  was  so  fascinated  by  Love- 
dale that  he  seriously  considered  whether  he  should 
devote  himself  to  it  as  an  honorary  missionary. 
Dr.  George  Adam  Smith  tells  us  that  when  visiting 
Africa,  *Mr.  Barbour  came  under  another  of  the 
great  influences  of  his  life — Dr.  Stewart  of  Lovedale.' 

J.  S.  Macarthur,  Esq.,  the  discoverer  of  the  cyanide 
gold-extracting  process,  thus  describes  his  visit  to 
Lovedale :  '  I  was  impressed  by  Dr.  Stewart's  quiet, 
strong,  kindly  manner.  With  him  there  was  no  ex- 
citement, no  noise,  everything  went  smoothly  and 
peacefully,  but  everything  did  go.  ...  I  left  on 
Monday  afternoon,  having  spent  in  Lovedale  two  of 


PREJUDICES  VANQUISHED  349 

the  quietest  and  happiest  days  of  my  life.  Whilst 
there  I  did  not  know  in  the  least  that  Dr.  Stewart 
was  teaching  me — I  do  not  think  he  knew — but  after 
I  left  I  found  that  I  knew  very  much  more  than 
when  I  went.  He  had  impressed  on  me  the  foolish- 
ness of  trying  to  convert  a  heathen  and  then  leave 
him  idle  to  drop  back  into  his  old,  lazy,  loafing, 
quarrelling  ways.' 

Let  another  example  stand  for  many.  A  visitor 
to  Lovedale  thus  describes  his  experience,  in  one  of 
the  African  newspapers:  'After  welcoming  me  to 
Lovedale,  Dr.  Stewart  invited  me  to  htive  a  look 
over  the  place,  and  here  it  was  that  all  the  argu- 
ments that  I  had  prepared,  vanished  as  chaff 
before  the  wind.  For  one  of  the  first  observations 
the  doctor  made  was  this:  "Our  object  is  to  teach 
the  native  to  work  ;  work  he  must  a  certain  portion 
of  the  day,  or  go.  We  cannot  afford  to  keep  idlers 
here ;  lazy  fellows  must  leave  us.  We  endeavour  to 
civilise  and  teach  them  to  fear  God  at  the  same 
time,  and  hope  that  some  at  least  will  turn  out 
useful  men  and  women."  I  could  scarcely  avoid 
applauding  the  doctor's  sentiments,  with  a  hearty 
"hear,  hear,"  having  all  the  ground  knocked  from 
under  me.  ...  I  left,  convinced  that  the  Institution 
ought  to  have  every  support  and  encouragement.' 

This  visitor  might  have  added  :  *  I  came  ;  I  saw  : 
I  was  conquered.' 


CHAPTER   XXXIII 

SOMGXADA:  THE   MAN   OF  ACTION 

His   Native   Name — Energy — Promptitude — Thoroughness — 
Variety  of  Activities — A  Day  in  the  Office  at  Lovedale. 

'  I  am — I  know — I  ought — I  can — I  will.' — Augustine's  Ladder  of 
Character. 

'  Be  a  whole  man  :  do  one  thing  at  a  time,' — Dr.  Thomas  Binney. 

'The  word  of  action  is  stronger  than  the  word  of  speech.' — '  ^quanim- 
itas,'  by  William  Osier,  M.D. 

'  It  is  an  incontrovertible  truth  that  no  man  ever  made  an  ill  figure  who 
understood  his  own  talents,  nor  a  good  one  who  mistook  them.' — Dean 
Swift. 

'Give  rne  patience  to  labour  at  details  as  much  as  if  they  were  the 
highest  work.     God  is  the  Doer.' — Dr.  Stewarfs  Journal. 

It  is  now  the  time,  with  as  h'ttle  repetition  as 
possible,  to  sum  up  our  impressions  regarding  the 
man  and  his  work.  His  career  can  be  understood 
only  by  those  who  study  his  marvellous  activity  and 
his  implacable  optimism. 

His  Native  Name. — The  Africans  usually  give  a 
significant  name  to  every  white  man  among  them. 
It  may  be  a  title  of  respect,  or  a  nickname  by  which 
his  appearance,  manner,  or  gait,  is  very  cleverly  hit 
off,  often  with  a  touch  of  real  humour.  Their 
languages  are  rich  in  pictorial  epithets.  When 
Joseph  Chamberlain  visited  them,  their  greeting 
was  *  Welcome,  Moatlodi,'  that  is — *  The  man  who 


THE  UBIQUITOUS  351 

makes  crooked  things  straight.'  They  called  Cecil 
Rhodes — 'the  Bull  that  separates  the  fighting  bulls.' 
Their  favourite  name  for  Stewart  was  Somgxada, 
which  has  been  translated  as — Long-strider ;  the 
Father  of  strides ;  he  who  is  here,  there,  and  every- 
where ;  or  the  Ubiquitous,  who  finds  you  when  you 
don't  expect  him.  The  name  well  described  his 
constant  movement,  and  the  ceaseless,  tireless  ac- 
tivity of  this  human  dynamo.^ 

Once  his  wagon  broke  down  at  a  distance  from 
home.  On  appealing  to  the  natives  for  help,  they 
asked  his  name.  *  Dr.  Stewart,'  he  replied.  They 
made  no  response.  He  then  said, '  I  am  Somgxada.' 
Their  faces  lighted  up,  and  they  gladly  helped  him. 
Somgxada  is  the  name  by  which  he  will  be  known 
to  children's  children. 

His  Energy. — Mind,  body,  and  will  were  endowed 
with  exuberant  vigour  which  he  had  thoroughly 
developed  and  kept  under  command.  The  limita- 
tions which  his  chosen  work  imposed  were  frankly 
accepted,  and  he  did  not  yearn  for  success  in  other 
spheres.  *  Whatever  was  eminently  and  grandly 
practical,'  writes  a  fellow-student,  '  that  he  followed.' 
His  was  the  blessedness  of  the  man  who  had  found 
his  work  and  wanted  nothing  else.  The  poet  thus 
voiced  one  of  his  deepest  convictions  : 

*We  have  an  hour  allotted  thus, 
We  have  a  task  appointed  us, 
Nor  culture  of  the  mind  and  heart 
Shall  be  the  Christian's  only  part, 
But  he  shall  bend  his  will 
To  present  duty  still.' 

^  The  natives  also  called  him  '  Tiger-step,'  to  denote  the  energy  of 
his  movements.  'Have  you  seenConde?'  some  one  asked  Turenne 
at  the  close  of  a  battle.  '  I  must  have  seen  a  dozen  Condes,'  was  the 
reply  :  *  he  multiplies  himself. ' 


352  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

A  lover  of  the  concrete,  he  regarded  action  as  the 
crown  of  knowledge,  and  till  far  on  in  life,  he  seemed 
almost  proof  against  fatigue.  All  his  powers  were 
braced  and  refreshed  by  difficulty  and  opposition. 
To  giant  circumstance  he  opposed  himself  as  a 
greater  circumstance.  As  the  science  of  success  is 
the  science  of  energetics,  he  did  wonders  in  his  own 
department.  Energy  and  resolution  were  stamped 
upon  all  his  features,  for  he  looked  as  if  he  could 
face  anything,  and  go  through  anything,  and  he 
rejoiced  to  dynamite  his  way  through  opposing 
barriers. 

Promptitude. — In  the  dynamic  of  human  affairs, 
power  and  promptitude  are  essential  to  success. 
But  failure  is  certain  if  promptitude  lapses  into 
impetuosity  or  precipitation.  '  First  weigh,  then  ven- 
ture,' was  Moltke's  motto.  *  Be  sure  you  are  right, 
then  go  ahead,'  was  the  advice  of  another  great 
man  of  action.  Stewart  was  gifted  with  a  sense  of 
opportunity,  and  was  quick  in  discerning  and  seizing 
what  was  likely  to  suit  his  purpose.  He  might 
have  justly  adopted  as  his  motto  the  word  '  forth- 
with,' which  is  found  about  eighty  times  in  the  New 
Testament.  He  was  impulsive  after  thinking,  but 
not  before  it.  It  seemed  as  if  a  voice  were  always 
saying  to  him,  '  Do  something,  do  it  at  once,  do  it 
with  all  thy  might.'  'Postponed  good  deeds,'  he 
once  wrote,  *  like  rainbow  hues,  are  vanishing  haloes 
at  the  best.'  The  natives  at  Lovedale  were  fined 
when  they  entered  the  office  through  the  open 
window  instead  of  the  door.  Stewart  came  along 
and  jumped  through  the  window,  as  he  always  took 
the  shortest  way  to  his  work.  The  native  in  charge 
told  him  that  he  must  pay  the  fine.  After  writing 
an  hour  at  his  desk,  he  jumped  out  through  the 


A  MODERN  VIKING  353 

window,  and  was  fined  again.  'That,'  says  the 
informant, '  was  Dr.  Stewart.'  Thucydides  says  that 
the  Greeks  had  the  power  of  thinking  before  they 
acted  and  of  acting  too.  Stewart  was  like  a  Greek 
in  his  union  of  these  t  vo  powers. 

His  promptitude,  without  fussiness  and  strain,  had 
in  it  a  military  quality.  Sometimes  he  thought  that 
he  should  have  been  a  soldier.  '  A  soldier,  to  slay  ! ' 
a  friend  exclaimed.  *  Nay,'  was  the  reply,  '  but  to 
prevent  slaughter.'  Had  he  been  a  soldier,  he  would 
have  been  the  Cornelius  of  his  band,  and  have 
conquered  as  Alexander  the  Great  did,  '  by  not 
delaying.'  The  Viking  of  the  North  Seas  was 
strong  in  him. 

Thoroughness  in  details  was  another  feature  of  his 
work.  La  Bruy^re's  motto,  *  The  best  in  the  least,' 
was  also  his.  The  mission,  he  felt,  deserved  the  best 
of  everything.  His  quickness  in  lighting  on  weak 
spots  amounted  almost  to  a  sixth  sense,  says  one  of 
his  colleagues.  Every  stone  in  the  building  must 
be  well  and  truly  laid.  His  passion  and  genius  for 
efficiency  would  not  allow  him  to  accept  a  second- 
class  work  from  any  one,  least  of  all  from  himself 
His  gospel  of  labour  was  nobler  and  healthier  than 
Carlyle's,  and  most  of  his  rivets  will  hold. 

His  patience  with  endless  details,  however  fagging 
and  trivial,  was  astonishing  in  so  impetuous  a  worker, 
whose  heart  was  set  on  the  highest  spiritual  results. 
It  is  just  here  that  so  many  cultured  men  fail.  With 
them  the  best  is  the  enemy  of  the  good.  Believing 
that  action  is  coarsened  thought,  they  become  martyrs 
of  disgust,  and  are  eager  to  escape  from  the  dust  of 
the  actual,  nursing  their  dignity,  and  so  afraid  of 
doing  things  imperfectly  that  they  do  nothing  at  all. 
A  devout  Jewish  priest  counted  the  pins  and  nails  of 

Z 


354  STEWART  OF  LOVE  DALE 

the  tabernacle  worthy  of  his  best,  so  in  Stewart's 
eyes,  small  things  were  clothed  with  an  imputed 
dignity  because  they  belonged  to  the  Kingdom.  His 
friends  much  desired  that  in  his  late  years  he  had 
adopted  the  sacred  principle  of  delegation,  and  left 
details  to  others.  But  the  habits  which  were  a 
necessity  in  his  earlier  days  when  efficient  help  was 
scarce,  clave  to  him  unto  the  very  end.  His  finger 
must  be  kept  on  the  pulse  of  everything  in  Love- 
dale,  and  he  grew  more  and  more  eager  to  work  as 
the  shadows  were  gathering.  Wiser  in  this  respect 
was  another  man  of  energy  and  action,  who  said  that 
he  had  two  rules  ;  the  first  was  to  make  sure  that  he 
could  do  his  own  work  better  than  any  one  else  could 
do  it ;  and  the  second  was,  then  to  get  other  people 
to  do  it. 

The  variety  of  his  activities  surprises  us.  Preacher, 
Missionary,  Doctor,  Educationalist,  Master-builder, 
Champion  of  the  Natives,  Farmer,  Captain  of  Indus- 
tries, Collector  of  Money,  Statesman,  daily  Providence 
of  some  hundreds  of  natives,  the  Ruler  of  a  small 
Kingdom,  and  that  which  came  to  him  daily,  the 
care  of  all  his  enterprises — so  many  labours  and  so 
great  affairs — to  read  the  bare  list  gives  one  a  sense 
of  fatigue.  If  ever  a  man  was  'by  thronging  duties 
pressed,'  and  mobbed  by  details,  the  Principal  of 
Lovedale  was.  With  him  to  live  was  to  serve,  in 
the  soldier's  phrase.  And  he  bounded  to  his  work 
and  did  it  joyfully,  like  Mercury,  the  celestial 
messenger,  with  wings  on  both  feet. 

While  in  Africa,  he  toiled  on  in  all  weathers,  for- 
getting the  gospel  of  relaxation.  He  never  took  a 
real  holiday,  and  could  scarcely  find  time  to  spend 
Christmas  with  his  family  in  the  country.  When  he 
did  so  he  took  his  work  with  him,  and  was  often  at 


TREMENDOUS  ACTIVITY  355 

it  from  morn  till  midnight.  Most  of  his  time  on 
ship-board  was  spent  in  writing  in  the  interests  of 
the  mission.  By  sea  and  land  interrupted  work  was 
always  awaiting  his  attention.  Another  Somgzada, 
Archbishop  Temple,  held  that  a  very  busy  man  must 
make  many  blunders,  because  he  had  not  time 
enough  for  reflection. 

'  One  has  only  to  turn  up  Parliamentary  Blue 
Books,  Synod  Reports,  Missionary  Records,  or  even 
the  public  press  of  this  and  the  home  country  to 
discover  how  wide  was  the  range  and  catholic  the 
character  of  Dr.  Stewart's  interests  and  labours 
during  a  long  and  full  life.  Now  we  find  him  guid- 
ing the  counsels  of  a  Parliamentary  Commission, 
then  leading  a  Church  Court  through  a  stirring  crisis ; 
at  times  directing  a  missionary  policy,  and  ever  and 
anon  championing  some  righteous  cause.  In  all  he 
is  ever  the  same,  strong,  sane,  fearless,  wise. 

'  It  is  safe  to  say  that  during  the  thirteen  days  he 
spent  at  Lovedale  when  about  to  pioneer  the  East 
African  Mission,  he  did  not  sleep  thirty  hours. 
When  the  dawn  was  breaking  you  might  still  see  a 
light  in  his  room.'  For,  like  Caesar,  he  counted 
nothing  done,  so  long  as  anything  remained  to  be 
done.  His  work  would  have  broken  the  back  of  an 
average  man.  Tireless  energy  like  his  was  possible 
only  to  one  who  had  a  great  capacity  for  affairs,  and 
was  living  the  life  for  which  he  had  been  formed. 
Stewart  was  fitted  for,  and  fitted  into,  his  work,  as 
the  ball  of  bone  fits  into  its  socket.  Trained  in  self- 
reliance  and  responsibility,  he  was  the  man  of  action 
the  times  required.  The  records  of  his  work,  like 
John  Wesley's,  have  an  atmosphere  of  tremendous 
activity.  And  yet  he  was  a  very  severe  critic  of  his 
own  work,  and  often  upbraided  himself  because  he 


356  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

had  not  done  half  enough  !  A  sure  sign  of  genius  is 
a  certain  sacred  dissatisfaction  with  its  best  creations. 

The  ease-loving  natives  regarded  his  tireless 
activity  as  something  supernatural.  They  had  an 
uncanny  feeling  about  his  truly  demonic  energy,  and 
even  suspected,  it  is  said,  that  he  drew  strength  from 
these  mysterious  sources  in  which  they  half-believed, 
and  which  he  disowned.  They  had,  however,  pleas- 
ure in  the  consciousness  that  all  these  strange 
powers  were  on  their  side. 

The  Rev.  R.  W.  Barbour  thus  describes  '  the  day's 
work  of  a  giant '  in  the  office  at  Lovedale  : — 

'  There  are  desks  and  papers  enough  lying  about 
to  justify  its  ordinary  name,  though  to  this  might  be 
added,  among  other  appropriate  designations,  those 
of  chemist's  shop  and  place  of  universal  intrusion. 
For  while  there  are  bottles  on  one  side  and  medical 
books  on  the  other,  the  door  at  the  end — it  is  a  room 
at  the  corner  of  Dr.  Stewart's  house — keeps  con- 
stantly opening,  and  presents  to  the  patient  observer 
as  lively  and  complete  a  succession  of  scenes  from 
the  life  of  Lovedale  as  ever  did  aperture  in  the  best 
magic  lantern.  Before  the  day  has  begun  it  may  be 
a  refractory  apprentice  who  does  not  see  the  beauty 
of  restraint  nor  the  use  of  evening  classes,  and  comes 
to  say  the  best  he  can  for  himself,  and  then  hear 
what  is  certainly  not  the  worst  for  him.  Now  it  is  a 
batch  of  examination  papers  from  one  of  the  masters, 
by  which  you  may  gather  how  some  of  the  head- 
work  is  proceeding.  Next  it  is  some  one  from  the 
farm  to  say  how  the  drought  is  telling  upon  this 
year's  crop,  and  consult  as  to  what  is  to  be  done 
to  make  out  the  necessary  supplies.  Then  there  are 
telegrams,  letters,  and  messages  innumerable  from 
everywhere  and  about  everything.     In  fine,  from  a 


THE  DAY'S  WORK  OF  A  GIANT  357 

District  Magistrate  to  a  Red  Kafir,  everything  in  the 
shape  of  inquiry,  appeal,  complaint,  objection,  and 
emergency  comes  to  the  office.  The  interruption  is 
quite  unbroken.  In  the  afternoon,  it  is  a  schoolboy 
who  has  brought  his  companion  in  with  a  dislocated 
wrist  that  wants  setting  and  bandaging  after  a  too 
rapid  descent  from  a  tree  ;  or  it  is  an  editor  in  search 
of  information  or  supervision  for  a  clamant  article. 
When  the  lamps  are  lit  you  expect  peace.  If  so, 
you  must  seek  it  elsewhere,  for  there  is  a  most  mis- 
cellaneous and  unpredictable  programme  for  the 
evening  before  the  occupant  or  occupants  of  that 
office.  There  is  a  deputation  of  lads  down  from  the 
Institution  to  make  serious  representation  in  the 
matter  of  "  smoked  mealies  "  said  to  have  been  had  at 
supper.  There  are  the  books  of  the  various  work 
departments  brought  down  here  at  the  close  of  each 
day.  There  is  a  large  and  complicated  correspond- 
ence to  keep  up.  In  fact,  the  cases  and  interests, 
the  needs  and  necessities,  calls  and  responsibilities 
of  a  community  of  somewhere  about  five  hundred 
persons  with  all  their  relations  and  bearings,  their 
conditions  and  prospects,  resort  in  the  last  issue  to 
this  little  spot  of  ground.  After  seeing  a  little  of 
the  systematic  invasion  which  goes  on  night  and 
day,  one  thinks  the  name  of  ^'sanctum"  sometimes 
applied  to  places  such  as  this  strangely  out  of  place. 
"  Profanum"  might  be  more  in  keeping.' 

In  days  to  come  Stewart  will  be  Somgxada  in 
South  Africa,  the  man  who  is  everywhere  in  things 
pertaining  to  the  elevation  of  the  natives. 


CHAPTER    XXXIV 

THE   OPTIMIST 

His  quenchless  Hope — Steadfast  Faith — Missionary  Promises 
— A  needful  Sphere — The  Power  of  Contrast— Inspiration 
from  Church  History — Visible  Fruits. 

•Thus  with  somewhat  of  the  seer 
Must  the  moral  pioneer 

From  the  future  borrow  ; 
Clothe  the  waste  with  dreams  of  grain, 
And  on  midnight's  sky  of  rain 
Paint  the  golden  morrow.' 

—  Whitfier. 

'  The  Bible,  from  first  to  last,  is  one  unbroken,  persistent  call  to  hope.* 
— Dean  Church. 

'  We  are  saved  by  hope.' — The  Apostle  Paul. 

Foreign  missionaries  have  the  most  discouraging 
spheres  in  the  world,  and  are  usually  the  most  hope- 
ful of  men.  Stewart  was  in  this  respect  a  good 
representative  of  his  class,  for  his  hopefulness  was 
subjected  to  the  severest  tests,  and  yet  he  did  not 
hang  his  harp  on  the  willows.  His  was  the  secret  of 
annexing  the  future  to  the  present  and  the  harvest 
to  the  seed-time,  and  he  saw  in  ridiculously  mean 
beginnings  the  prophecy  of  great  things.  His 
optimism  is  revealed  in  every  book  he  wrote  and  in 
every  one  of  his  missionary  addresses.  In  his  Love- 
dale  he  writes  :  *  The  great  future  of  the  missionary 
enterprise  may  be  left  to  take  care  of  itself.  It  is 
safe  in  the  hands  of  its  Founder.    Its  progress  means 

86S 


DEFYING  DESPAIR  359 

the  gradual  spread  of  Christianity.  Its  final  success 
means  that  the  future  religion  of  mankind  will  be 
the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  future  civilisa- 
tion of  the  world  a  Christian  civilisation,  whatever 
its  form  may  be.  .  .  .  And  that  is  just  what  we 
labour  for — a  day  in  the  future  when  the  Dark  Con- 
tinent shall  be  a  continent  of  light  and  progress,  of 
cities  and  civilisation  and  Christianity.  There  is  no 
good  reason  to  doubt  the  coming  of  such  a  day.' 

He  never  lost  his  faith  in  Africa's  redemption.  In 
his  Moderator's  address  he  said,  '  All  question  as  to 
the  final  success  of  the  work  may  be  set  at  rest.' 

'  In  the  greatest  books  on  missions  there  is  not,' 
he  tells  us,  'the  sound  of  a  single  depressing  note.' 
'  Don't  let  despair  begin  with  you,'  said  one  of  his 
colleagues,  '  let  it  begin  with  us.'  Great  hopes  make 
great  men  and  missionaries. 

What  are  the  sources  of  this  quenchless  hope  ?  It 
is  rooted  in  an  unwavering  Christian  faith.  In 
ordinary  circumstances  only  a  whole-hearted  faith 
can  induce  a  thoughtful  man  to  face  the  enormous 
difficulties  of  the  field.  He  who  hopes  to  overthrow 
heathen  systems  must  be  very  sure  that  his  feet  are 
planted  upon  the  eternal  rock.  An  invincible  belief 
in  the  recoverableness  of  the  heathen  is  the  founda- 
tion of  all  missions.  The  missionary's  faith  is 
increased  by  his  sacrificing  worldly  ambitions  and 
devoting  himself  to  a  life  of  exile.  Such  a  man  has 
no  prospect  of  making  a  fortune  and  enjoying  years 
of  rest  at  home.  The  work  before  him  is  fitted  to 
shatter  the  hope  that  is  sentimental,  and  the  faith 
that  has  not  been  confirmed.  The  difficulties  that 
confront  him  call  out  all  his  spiritual  reserves.  Con- 
sciousness of  purity  of  motive  brings  him  into  the 
right  mood  and  attitude  for  great  inspirations.     The 


36o  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

missionary  at  his  best  has  the  spirit  of  Arbousset, 
one  of  the  earliest  French  missionaries  to  the  Basutos. 
When  he  landed  at  Cape  Town  and  gazed  at  the 
Table  Mount,  the  gigantic  barrier  of  rock  became  to 
him  a  symbol  of  the  heathenism  he  hoped  to  over- 
throw. 'Who  art  thou,  O  great  mountain?'  he  asked. 
'  Before  Zerubbabel,  thou  shalt  become  a  plain.' 

The  missionary  broods  more  than  others  over  the 
missionary  promises^  and  these  are  the  most  astonish- 
ing and  inspiring  utterances  in  the  whole  world.  Use 
and  wont  has  blunted  the  edge  of  our  wonder,  and 
only  by  an  effort  can  we  dismiss  our  dull  associations 
and  grasp  the  unfailing  optimism  of  the  Bible.  The 
greatest  literary  miracle  in  the  world  is  the  unity  of  the 
Bible,  and  its  hope  of  the  conversion  of  all  nations. 
Its  writers  belonged  to  one  of  the  smallest  and  most 
exclusive  races  in  the  world  ;  its  books  were  written 
at  different  times,  by  very  different  men,  and  amid 
various  tendencies,  and  yet  they  all  introduce  us  to 
a  King  who  is  to  establish  a  world-wide  and  world- 
long  kingdom.  As  Abraham  was  sitting  under  the 
great  oak  at  Mamre,  he  was  told  that  he  would  have 
a  chosen  son,  that  his  son  would  be  the  father  of  a 
chosen  nation,  and  that  the  nation  would  have  a 
chosen  seed  in  whom  all  the  families  of  the  earth 
should  be  blessed.  The  hope  of  the  conversion  of 
the  whole  world  lives  in  the  heart  of  the  whole  Bible. 
The  strongest  utterances  of  this  invincible  optimism 
came  from  the  prophets  when  their  land  was  in 
ruins  and  their  religious  institutions  were  caught  in 
the  rapids  and  hurrying  on  to  destruction.  The 
same  spirit  pervades  the  New  Testament ;  for  it  was 
written  by  fervent  missionaries — apostle  is  the  Greek 
word  for  a  missionary — and  is  everywhere  full  of  the 
missionary  spirit.     Its  great  oft-recurring  words  are 


THE  TRAMP  OF  COMING  MILLIONS      361 

outgoing — teach,  call,  keep,  heal,  say,  go,  etc.  The 
beloved  disciple,  even  when  a  prisoner  in  Patmos, 
and  in  a  day  when  heathenism  was  triumphant 
everywhere,  wrote  as  if  he  already  heard  the  tread 
of  the  coming  millions  of  Gentile  converts  hurrying 
on  to  the  mystic  Zion,  the  seat  of  Him  who  is  '  the 
Desire  of  all  nations.'  He  saw  his  Divine  Master  in 
vision  as  a  Roman  warrior — a  bowman — going  forth 
conquering  and  to  conquer  and  crowned  with  victory. 
The  missionary  lives  in  the  spiritual  ozone  of  such 
truths,  and  thus  his  hopes  are  fostered.  Stewart,  by 
pitching  the  tent  of  his  meditation  among  the  pro- 
mises, breathed  that  spirit  of  victory  which  throbs  at 
the  heart  of  both  the  Testaments.  With  him  the 
Christ  that  is  to  be  is  Christ  the  Conqueror.  One  of 
them  had  the  power  of  a  charm  over  him — '  Ethiopia 
shall  haste  to  stretch  out  her  hands  unto  God.'  He 
hoped  to  mould  the  poetry  of  the  Christian  life  out 
of  the  hard,  dull  prose  of  paganism. 

The  foreign  missionary  has  usually  one  notable 
advantage  over  the  average  pastor  or  Christian 
worker  at  home :  he  feels  that  he  is  where  he  is 
greatly  needed.  His  work  is  not  tame  and  common- 
place, and  he  has  all  the  inspiration  that  comes  from 
a  vast  sphere  and  a  very  great  and  fresh  enterprise. 
He  is  preaching  the  glad  tidings  to  those  who,  but 
for  him,  would  probably  never  hear  it,  and  by  his 
very  presence  he  is  doing  something  to  lessen  the 
surrounding  darkness.  The  spirit  of  enterprise  was 
very  strong  in  Stewart,  and,  sanctified  by  grace,  it 
made  him  a  prince  of  missionaries. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  he  gained  not  a  little 
additional  inspiration  from  the  hundreds  of  young 
people  under  his  influence.  The  very  flower  of 
South  Africa  came  to  Lovedale,  and  they  represented 


362  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

the  most  vigorous  and  prolific  races  in  the  world 
to-day.  Very  different  were  they  from  the  decaying 
race  for  whom  John  Eliot  compiled  a  grammar  and 
translated  the  Bible.  Not  a  member  of  that  tribe 
now  lives.  The  fact  that  the  pupils  at  Lovedale 
belonged  to  various  tribes,  stimulated  emulation 
among  them,  and  purified  and  guided  their  racial 
jealousies.  The  Principal  touched  their  lives  at 
every  point,  and  through  them  he  influenced  nearly 
all  the  tribes  in  the  land.  They  offered  him  the 
very  opportunity  for  which  he  had  passionately 
yearned.  In  his  hands  was  the  making  of  those 
chosen  youths  who  were  to  be  the  makers  of  the 
new  South  Africa.  Lovedale  thus  had  for  him  such 
a  charm  as  a  great  university  has  for  its  leading 
professors.  It  was  a  power-house,  a  generating  and 
distributing  station  whence  new  forces  were  to  be 
conveyed  over  the  land.  He  thought  that  the  Gospel 
was  more  likely  to  spread  in  Africa  from  the  south 
than  from  the  north.  One  of  his  dreams  was  about 
a  chain  of  Lovedales  stretching  to  Khartoum  and 
beyond.  He  asked  Rhodes  to  give  him  a  site  in 
Rhodesia  for  one  of  them.     He  thought  imperially. 

Contrast  wonderfully  helps  the  missionary  to  pre- 
serve his  apostolic  optimism.  He  has  the  best 
opportunities  in  the  world  for  the  study  of  com- 
parative religion,  for  everyday  religions  and  tJie 
religion  are  at  work  before  his  eyes.  The  merely 
intellectual  study  of  this  great  subject  is  fitted  to 
make  a  profound  impression.  Max  Muller  says  that 
'  he  who  knows  only  one  religion,  knows  none.'  This 
exaggeration  suggests  a  great  truth.  He  elsewhere 
says  more  truly,  '  No  one  who  has  not  examined 
patiently  and  honestly  the  other  religions  of  the 
world  can  know  what  Christianity  really  is,  or  can 


BREAKING  THE  SPELL  OF  DESPONDENCY    363 

join  with  such  truth  and  sincerity  in  the  words  of 
St.  Paul :  I  am  not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel  of 
Christ ! '  Only  by  setting  Christ's  religion  by  the 
side  of  one  of  its  rivals  can  we  gain  the  fullest  per- 
suasion of  the  peerless  excellences  of  the  Christian 
faith.  But  the  study  of  heathen  religions  in  books 
is  often  very  misleading.  We  should  generously 
appreciate  the  elements  of  good  in  them,  but  we 
want  to  know  how  they  work.  Many  recently 
believed  that  the  Bhuddism  of  Tibet  contained 
wonderful  treasures  of  religious  knowledge,  and  they 
hoped  to  find  a  new  Messias  there.  Those  who 
have  recently  lifted  the  veil  tell  us  that  Tibetan 
Bhuddism  is  rude  idolatry  and  mere  devil-worship.^ 

There  can  scarcely  be  a  more  miserable  religion 
under  heaven  than  the  African,  and  the  missionary 
who  daily  witnesses  it  is  likely  to  appreciate  the 
blessedness  of  the  Christian  faith  more  than  the 
average  Christian  at  home  usually  does.  We  have 
here  one  of  the  liberalising  influences  of  the  mission- 
ary's enthusiasm.  He  is  not  tempted  to  mistake  his 
own  horizon  for  the  earth's. 

Church  history  rightly  studied  breaks  the  spell  of 
despondency.  His  Journal  shows  that  Stewart, 
when  exploring  in  the  heart  of  Africa,  had  a  peculiar 
fondness  for  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  as  a  record 
of  missionary  enterprise,  and  that  he  brooded  over 
it  with  an  eye  to  his  own  career,  saying  to  himself 

*  A  young  Indian  physician  witnessed  for  the  first  time  the  celebra- 
tion of  the  Lord's  Supper  in  Scotland.  lie  wept  throughout  the  ser- 
vice. When  asked  the  reason,  he  said  :  '  I  tried  to  understand  all  that 
was  said  and  done :  I  thought  of  the  beauty  of  your  religion,  of  its 
love  to  man,  its  pity  for  the  sinful  and  the  sorrowful.  I  then  thought 
of  my  India,  and  of  the  many  sad  things  in  our  religion.  I  thought  of 
its  cruelty  to  our  widows.  When  I  put  the  two  religions  alongside  of 
each  other  I  could  do  nothing  but  weep.' 


364  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

the  while — '  I  also  am  a  missionary.'  The  Foreign 
Missionary  has  every  day  an  experience  remarkably 
like  that  of  the  leaders  in  the  New  Testament 
churches.  He  is  therefore  in  the  best  possible 
position  for  understanding,  and  receiving  constant 
inspiration  from,  the  photos  of  church-life  in  the 
Epistles  and  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  How 
wonderful  the  story  when  one  brings  to  it  a  real- 
ising historical  imagination,  Paul  and  Silas  crossed 
over  to  Europe  as  travelling  artisans.  But  they 
went  as  Heralds  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  in  the  spirit  of 
conquerors.  They  hoped  to  rescue  from  heathendom 
cultured  Rome  and  the  untutored  nations,  and  they 
have  done  it.  What  moral  and  spiritual  miracles 
the  pair  accomplished !  To-day  there  is  not  a  man, 
woman,  or  child  on  the  face  of  the  earth  who  worships 
the  gods  that  then  had  sway  over  all  Europe.  It 
is  true  that  Christ's  kingdom  came  not  then  with 
observation.  As  Stewart  points  out  more  than  once, 
the  Roman  historians,  famed  as  they  were  for  their 
eagle-eyed  acuteness,  have,  during  the  first  three, 
centuries,  only  some  ten  or  twelve  brief  and  scornful 
references  to  the  Church  of  Christ.  Yet  ere  long 
'  the  Empires  fell  one  upon  another  to  form  a 
pedestal  upon  which  to  build  the  Church.'  Stewart's 
writings  show  that  he  had  made  himself  familiar 
with  the  triumphant  march  of  the  Church  through 
the  ages,  and  thus  he  had  the  hope,  we  should  rather 
say  the  expectation,  that  the  experience  of  the  early 
Churches  would  be  repeated  in  Africa.  '  When  one 
has  seen  the  Catacombs,'  a  visitor  to  Rome  says, 
'one  understands  the  great  explosion  of  Christianity 
under  Constantine — the  city  had  been  conquered 
underground.'  Stewart  believed  that  something  like 
that  was  taking  place  around  him.    While  surrounded 


UK    NAilVES    AS    UUKV    AUIC    Al     UOMK 


IIIE    NAinilS    WUKN    Civil, K~)i:i) 


THE  DAWN  OF  A  BETTER  DAY  365 

by  the  night,  he  was  confident  of  the  dawn,  and  the 
dawn  overtook  him. 

For  the/rt^/j  he  had  witnessed  justified  to  a  large 
extent  his  lifelong  optimism.  The  previous  chapters 
record  some  of  these  facts.  He  believed  that  a  great 
missionary  epoch  had  already  begun,  and  that  it 
would  have  immense  issues.  'Young  missionaries 
may  despair,'  said  a  veteran  Indian  missionary;  'we 
who  have  witnessed  such  stupendous  changes  never 
can.'  Before  the  Native  Affairs  Commission  Stewart 
made  a  similar  statement  about  the  improvements 
he  had  witnessed,  especially  in  the  native  women, 
whose  appearance  had  been  entirely  changed.  The 
sight  of  the  boys  and  girls  at  Lovedale  was  fitted 
to  break  the  spell  of  despondency  if  it  had  ever 
mastered  him. 

In  his  Daiun  he  says  : — '  A  fair  and  just,  and  yet 
not  optimistic,  survey  of  the  missionary  situation  of 
to-day  would  lead  us  to  the  belief  that  it  is  better, 
more  encouraging,  and  more  full  of  real  results  than 
at  any  time  since  the  days  of  the  Apostles.  How 
poorly  at  the  best  have  we  discharged  the  great 
duties  God  has  laid  upon  us  in  virtue  of  the  gifts 
He  has  bestowed  !  Still,  in  God's  time,  apparently 
a  better  day  is  coming,  for  clearly  "  o'er  that  weird 
continent  morn  is  slowly  breaking."  We  return  again 
in  a  final  word  to  the  one  power  and  influence 
sufficient  for  the  regeneration  of  Africa.  It  has  been 
the  keynote  through  all  these  pages.  That  one  force 
is  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  taught  not  merely  by 
the  white  man's  words,  but  what  is  far  better,  by  his 
life,  as  showing  the  true  spirit  of  that  religion.' 
Believing  thus  that  the  best  is  yet  to  be,  the  shadows 
of  the  morning  were  tinged  in  his  eyes  with  the  glory 
of  the  approaching  dawn. 


366  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

Shortly  before  his  death  Coillard  wrote — March  4, 
1904 — 'Read  Dr.  Stewart's  Dawn  in  the  Dark  Con- 
tinent, Daybreak  in  Livingstonia,  and  Among  the  Wild 
Ngoni,  by  Dr.  ElmsHe.  To  state  my  impressions 
would  be  impossible.  I  am  humbled  and  moved  to 
wonder.   What  great  things  the  Lord  has  done  there.' 

*  We  are  saved  by  hope,'  the  Apostle  says.  The 
expectation  of  victory  is  often  the  guarantee  of 
victory,  for  every  great  battle  is  lost  or  won  in  the 
soul.  In  our  Navy  the  signal  for  a  close  engagement 
is  the  same  as  the  signal  for  a  victory.  To  hope  is 
often  to  achieve.  These  are  the  reasons  why  Stewart 
hoped  all  things  not  impossible,  and  believed  all 
things  not  unreasonable,  and  preserved  his  unclouded 
optimism  amid  many  assaults  upon  it. 


CHAPTER    XXXV 

THE  CLOSING   YEARS,    1899-I905 

The  Welcome  Home — The  Crisis  in  the  Free  Church  of  Scot- 
land—  A  Visit  to  Lovedale  —  His  Home-going — The 
Funeral — James  Stewart  and  Cecil  Rhodes— The  Meeting 
of  Native  Delegates  at  the  Grave — The  Native  College — 
The  Fulfilment  of  the  Dream  of  his  Youth. 

'  Let  the  night  come  before  we  praise  the  day.' — Old  Proverb. 

'  Waiting  as  a  soldier  on  parade,  in  preparation  for  prompt  obedience, 
feeling  no  desire  to  go,  but  ready.' — Lord  Salisbioy  on  Gladstone. 

'  So  little  done,  so  much  to  do.' — Rhodes' s  death-bed  Commentary  on  his 
Career. 

'  Moriamur  in  simplicitate  nostra  '  (Let  us  die  in  our  simplicity).  —  The 
Motto  of  the  Maccabees. 

After  his  moderatorship,  Stewart  returned  to 
Lovedale  in  1899,  and  came  back  to  Scotland  in 
1900.  In  May  of  that  year  he  presided  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  General  Assembly.  After  another  visit  to 
Lovedale  in  1901,  he  returned  to  Edinburgh  in  1902, 
to  deliver  the  Duff  lectures  on  missions,  which  were 
published  in  1903,  under  the  title  of  Dawn  in  the 
Dark  Continent. 

In  1903  he  made  a  second  visit  to  America,  that 
he  might  examine  all  the  new  methods  in  its  Negro 
Colleges. 

867 


368  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

He  had  previously  been  examined  by  two  physi- 
cians in  Edinburgh,  who  reported  that  his  heart 
had  been  weakened  by  overstrain,  and  urged  him  to 
give  up  all  work  except  the  general  superintendence 
of  the  mission.  But  '  the  natural  and  becoming  in- 
dolence of  age '  had  no  attractions  for  him.  To  him 
the  want  of  occupation  was  not  rest.  In  this  he  was 
like  Livingstone,  who  tells  us  in  his  Last  Journals 
that  he  was  always  ill  when  idle.  With  failing 
strength  but  never- failing  will,  he  kept  to  his 
post. 

Returning  to  Lovedale  in  April  1904,  he  received 
a  right  royal  welcome  from  the  staff,  the  pupils,  and 
the  apprentices,  who  lined  the  long  avenue  leading 
to  his  house.  '  He  had  come  back  to  stay,'  he  said — 
this  from  the  Christian  Express.  '  He  seemed 
bright  and  well,  his  voice  clear  and  strong,  as  he 
stood  up  to  address  all  those  who  gathered  to 
welcome  him  back  again  to  his  own  kingdom. 
To  the  students  his  message  was  the  same  un- 
changing theme  —  Righteousness  and  hard  work 
would  lift  them  up  as  a  race,  and  nothing  else 
would.' 

'  His  first  act  on  returning  was  eminently  character- 
istic of  the  man.  Hearing  that  a  Presbytery  meeting 
was  being  held  that  very  afternoon  at  Macfarlan, 
within  a  couple  of  hours  of  his  arrival  in  Lovedale, 
he  was  driving  as  fast  as  good  horses  would  take 
him,  along  the  Tyumie  road.  And  so,  at  first  sight, 
it  seemed  as  if  Dr.  Stewart  had  returned  in  the  ful- 
ness of  vigour  and  strength.  After  a  time  it  was 
evident  that  this  was  not  so.  The  old  fires  still 
burned  clear  and  bright,  lighting  up  his  eyes  with 
their  glow  and  warmth  ;  but  the  figure  was  a  little 
more  bent,  the  step  a  little  slower,  his  manner  more 


AT  JOHANNESBURG  AND  CAPE  TOWN   369 

gentle.  Now  and  again  he  was  seen  to  rest  by  the 
wayside ;  he  had  even  been  found  sitting  on  a  mound 
by  one  who  told  the  tale.  In  Africa  it  is  not  a 
wonderful  sight  to  find  one  sitting  waiting,  but  it 
was  passing  strange  for  the  ever  active  head  of 
Lovedale  to  rest  on  any  errand  of  his.  And  men 
knew  that  his  threescore  years  and  ten,  with  all  their 
fulness  of  service,  and  wealth  of  devotion  to  duty, 
had  not  left  him  untouched  in  their  passing.' 

In  July  1904  the  First  General  Missionary  Con- 
ference in  Africa  was  held  at  Johannesburg.  All  the 
Protestant  missions  were  represented.  Dr.  Stewart 
was  unanimously  chosen  President,  and  conducted 
the  meetings  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  all  the 
members.  He  had  then  several  interviews  with  Lord 
Milner,  and  obtained  his  support  for  the  cause  of  the 
Higher  Education  of  the  Natives. 

In  November  1904  he  gave  his  evidence  before 
the  Native  Affairs  Commission  in  Cape  Town.  His 
mind  then  seemed  as  active  as  ever,  and  he  displayed 
very  great  ability  in  setting  forth  his  plans,  and 
meeting  all  sorts  of  objections. 

He  also  then  interviewed  the  Governor  and  the 
other  ministers  of  State  about  the  decision  of  the 
House  of  Lords  in  the  Scottish  Church  Case.  He 
then  received  their  promise  that  they  would  not 
allow  Lovedale  to  pass  into  the  possession  of  the 
minority.  The  final  decision  in  such  a  case  lay  with 
the  Cape  Government.  The  Governor  communicated 
his  decision  to  the  Home  Government. 

In  January  1905  he  was  again  in  Cape  Town  in 
the  interests  of  Education  and  the  natives.  That 
was  his  last  journey  from  home.  His  friends  be- 
lieved that  it  greatly  weakened  him.  It  was  then 
less  than  a  year  before   his  death,  and    the  effort 

2A 


370  STEWART  OF  LOVED  ALE 

was  a  remarkable  triumph  of  the  soul  over  the 
body. 

It  must  be  sorrowfully  recorded  that  his  last  years 
were  darkened  by  three  very  sore  disappointments 
— Ethiopianism,  the  Mzimba  Case,  and  the  Church 
Crisis  in  Scotland.  The  first  and  second  of  these 
trials  have  been  described  in  Chapter  XXVII.  Mzimba 
was  one  of  the  most  promising,  trusted,  and  favoured 
of  the  Lovedale  pupils.  His  secession  and  the 
accompanying  circumstances  gave  Stewart  a  keen 
sense  of  bereavement. 

Wave  pressed  upon  wave  and  the  billows  went 
over  his  soul.  Before  the  Mzimba  trouble  had 
passed  away,  a  fresh  catastrophe  faced  him.  The 
decision  of  the  House  of  Lords  in  the  case  of  the 
Free  Church  versus  the  United  Free  Church  of  Scot- 
land fell  upon  Lovedale  as  a  bolt  out  of  the  blue.^ 
The  Legal  Free  Church  claimed  everything  belong- 
ing to  Lovedale.  The  surprising  events  in  the 
Home  Church  created  anxiety  about  the  future  of 
the  mission.  A  large  sum  had  been  collected  for 
extensions,  but  an  arresting  hand  was  at  once  laid 
upon  all  the  cherished  plans.  Stewart  had  to  con- 
template the  possibility  of  the  Legal  Free  Church 
appropriating  all  the  fruits  of  forty  years'  unceasing 
efforts,  though  they  had  not  one  missionary,  and 
could  not  possibly  carry  on  the  mission.     A  friend 

1  In  May  1905  I  addressed  a  native  congregation  not  far  from 
Lovedale.  At  the  close  a  stalwart  Kafir  came  striding  up  and  asked 
me  through  the  interpreter  what  I  thought  of  the  Twenty-four.  That 
was  their  name  for  the  small  minority  in  the  General  Assembly  who 
had  voted  against  union.  The  native  newspapers  were  then  rousing 
into  activity  the  latent  sympathies  with  Ethiopianism  and  all  other 
forces  of  insubordination,  and  fostering  the  hope  that  the  natives  might 
gain  possession  of  the  properties  and  endowments  at  Lovedale  and 
elsewhere. 


SLOWING  INTO  THE  TERMINUS  371 

writes  :  '  The  burden  of  this  last  sorrow  hastened  the 
end.  Though  he  lived  to  have  the  burden  lightened, 
and  to  feel  assured  that  the  worst  he  anticipated 
could  not  happen,  Dr.  Stewart's  splendid  physique 
had  been  overstrained,  and  signs  of  heart-failure 
began  to  appear.' 

In  1905  I  spent  three  days  with  him  at  Lovedale, 
six  months  before  his  last  call  came  to  him.^  Dr. 
Stewart  had  then  in  his  body  the  'secret  token '  that 
the  King  was  about  to  send  for  him.  He  knew  that 
he  must  die  soon  and  that  he  might  die  any  day.  If 
it  were  the  will  of  God,  he  would  have  wished  five 
years  more,  that  he  might  set  in  order  the  things 
that  were  wanting  at  Lovedale,  and  see  the  Native 
College  established.  About  this  scheme  he  was 
hopeful,  as  several  of  the  leaders  in  that  movement 
had  privately  intimated  their  intentions  and  wishes, 
but  nothing  must  be  said  about  it  in  the  meantime. 
For  the  sake  of  the  natives  he  hoped  that  every  de- 
partment of  his  work  might  be  preserved.  His  spirit 
was  saintly  and  chastened,  and  he  bore  himself 
patiently  and  bravely.  The  bitter  experiences  in 
recent  years  had  left  in  him  no  trace  of  bitterness, 
but  his  strenuous  life  had  deepened  the  thought- 
lines  on  his  strong  face,  and  his  frame  had  lost  a 
little  of  its  palm-like  uprightness.  His  convictions 
about  disputed  matters  were  as  strong  as  ever,  but 
he  did  not  say  a  hard  word  against  anybody. 
Student  days  and  many  of  his  experiences  were 
very  genially  recalled,  but  no  word  that  could 
suggest  self-praise  escaped  his  lips. 

'  I  was  soon  reminded  of  the  extent  of  Lovedale.  Towards  evening 
I  said  to  Mrs.  Stewart,  '  I  will  take  a  walk  round  the  buildings  and 
grounds.'  'You  cannot  do  that  before  dark,' she  replied,  'but  I  will 
get  the  horses  inspanned  and  drive  you  round.' 


372  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

Like  John  Knox,  he  could  '  interlace  merriness 
with  earnest  matters,'  for  he  believed  in  heart-easing 
mirth.^  Often  the  fine  smile  of  his  youthful  days 
lighted  up  his  face. 

Though  he  had  to  keep  in  bed  till  noon,  several 
hours  daily  were  spent  in  the  office.  Appeals  from 
family  and  friends  could  not  avail :  it  was  best,  he 
said,  that  he  should  keep  at  his  post  to  the  end. 
Though  then  always  weary  in  the  work,  he  was 
never  weary  of  it.  He  believed  that  the  labour  we 
delight  in  physics  pain,  and  his  body,  as  a  well- 
trained  slave,  had  learned  to  obey  at  once  the 
behests  of  the  masterful  will.  But  the  bow  so  long 
unslackened  had  almost  lost  its  spring. 

He  took  a  very  humble  view  of  his  work,  but  said 
emphatically  that  if  he  had  life  to  begin  over  again, 
he  would  not  wish  to  spend  his  energies  in  another 
way  or  sphere.  His  tones  as  well  as  his  words 
showed  how  deeply  he  was  touched  by  the  pathos  of 
parting.  The  consolations  of  Jesus  Christ  were 
equal  to  all  his  needs. 

Heedless  of  my  many  protests,  he  must  gather 
together  all  his  staff  in  the  evening,  preside,  and 
give  words  of  welcome  to  his  fellow-student.  His 
was  the  fine,  self-sacrificing,  old-world  courtesy  of 
the  Highland  chieftain,  who  must  rise  from  his 
death-bed  to  show  hospitality  to  his  guest.  He  must 
stand  up  and  speak,  although  he  had  to  lean  hard  on 
the  back  of  his  chair,  while  his  pale  face  and  quick 
breathing  revealed  the  great  effort  he  was  making. 

^  He  mentioned  that  a  few  weeks  ago  there  had  been  a  fire  in  one 
of  the  buildings,  and  he  had  rushed  out  to  help  in  extinguishing  it. 
'This  did  me  harm,'  he  said,  'but  I  had  a  "nicht  wi'  Burns'" — a 
Scottish  phrase  for  an  evening's  entertainment  with  the  songs  of  Burns. 
Fun  with  him  was  the  holiday  of  the  mind,  and  practically  the  only 
holiday  he  ever  took  since  his  student  days.     He  could  laugh  tears. 


CHRISTMAS  DAY  AT  LOVEDALE  373 

The  occasion  had  all  the  sacredness  which  belongs 
to  last  things.    It  was  his  last  address  to  a  company. 

After  that  evening,  he  left  his  bedroom  only  twice, 
but  he  did  not  leave  off  his  work  till  within  a  fort- 
night of  his  home-going,  when  his  hand  refused  to 
hold  the  pen. 

His  taper  burnt  clear  to  the  close.  Surrounded 
by  his  wife  and  children,  he  departed  this  life  on  the 
evening  of  December  21,  1905,  in  his  seventy-fifth 
year.  Then  was  fulfilled  his  favourite  text — *  It  shall 
come  to  pass,  that  at  evening  time  it  shall  be  light.' 

The  funeral  was  on  Christmas  Day.  All  races 
and  denominations  in  South  Africa  were  represented 
in  the  throng.  The  text  was  from  2  Samuel  iii.  38, 
'  Know  ye  not  there  is  a  prince  and  a  great  man 
fallen  this  day  in  Israel  ? ' 

A  vast  procession  of  men  and  women  on  foot, 
with  a  long  line  of  vehicles  and  horsemen  following 
the  bier,  wended  their  way  through  the  valley  of  the 
Tyumie,  and  up  the  slopes  of  Sandili's  Kop,  a  rocky 
height  about  a  mile  and  a  half  east  of  Lovedale,  and 
facing  the  College.  The  far-extending  buildings  of 
Lovedale  are  visible  from  the  grave.  The  South 
African  Scot  thus  describes  the  burial :  '  The  scene 
at  Sandili's  Kop  on  Christmas  Day  was  a  fitting 
close  to  the  career  of  a  great  leader  and  missionary. 
The  grave  was  carved  out  of  solid  rock,  and  can  be 
seen  from  any  point  of  the  valley  where  Lovedale  is 
situated.  Round  the  grave  were  gathered  repre- 
sentatives of  the  United  Free  Church  of  Scotland, 
the  South  African  Presbyterian  Church,  the  Dutch 
Reformed  Church,  the  Church  of  England,  the 
Wesleyan,  the  Congregational,  and  the  Baptist 
Churches,  Though  a  Presbyterian  by  training  and 
conviction,    Dr.    Stewart   belonged    to    the    Church 


374  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

Catholic,  and  all  the  Churches  claimed  him  as  their 
own.  The  great  gathering  of  black  and  white,  many 
different  races  and  nationalities,  stood  in  serried 
ranks  around  the  Kop.  The  Rev.  J.  Lennox,  his 
senior  missionary  assistant,  spoke  briefly  and  elo- 
quently of  his  magnificent  powers  of  mind  and  heart, 
and  of  his  complete  devotion  to  the  well-being  of  the 
natives  of  South  Africa.  The  hymn,  "  O  Love  that 
wilt  not  let  me  go,"  was  sung.  Then  a  Kafir  hymn 
and  a  prayer  in  Kafir,  in  which  it  was  said  that  God 
had  "dried  up  the  fountain  from  which  they  were 
accustomed  to  drink."  When  the  grave  was  closed, 
it  was  covered  with  flowers  sent  by  representative 
men  and  women  from  all  parts  of  South  Africa. 
With  a  feeling  of  deep  sadness  that  the  earthly 
career  of  a  great  and  good  man  had  closed,  and  with 
a  deep  assurance  that  the  life  he  lived  will  tell  on 
the  history  of  the  country  for  generations,  the  crowd 
slowly  dispersed.' 

At  the  close  of  the  service,  they  sang  a  hymn 
which  Dr.  Stewart  often  used — '  Holy,  holy,  holy, 
Lord  God  Almighty.'  It  was  thus  that  devout  men 
carried  him  to  his  grave  and  made  great  lamentation 
over  him.  The  only  inscription  on  the  grave  is 
'James  Stewart,  Missionary.' 

There  is  a  close  parallel  between  the  burial  of 
James  Stewart  and  that  of  Cecil  Rhodes.  Both  the 
tombs  are  on  a  hill-top,  both  were  blasted  out  of  the 
solid  rock,  and  both  are  near  the  scene  of  great 
achievements.  We  find  the  explanation  of  this 
similarity,  not  in  the  notion  of  imitation,  but  in  the 
fact  that  these  men,  or  their  friends,  were  in  similar 
circumstances  and  swayed  by  similar  motives.^    The 

^  Dr.  Stewart  expressed  no  wish  whatever  about  his  grave.    Sandili's 
Kop  was  ch(jsen  by  Mrs.  Stewart  with  the  approbation  of  the  Lovedale 


TWO  GREAT  IMPERIALISTS  375 

traveller  at  Rhodes's  grave,  amid  the  fantastic 
castled  crags  of  the  Matoppo  Hills,  looks  down  on 
the  site  of  the  historic  meeting  of  Rhodes  with  the 
Matabele  Indunas,  With  supreme  bravery  he  there 
took  his  life  in  his  hand,  went  unarmed  and  un- 
escorted into  the  stronghold  of  his  enemies,  and 
brought  to  a  close  the  second  Matabele  war.  As 
he  returned  he  said  that  the  scene  of  that  day  was 
'one  of  those  things  that  make  life  worth  living.'  It 
was  natural  that  he  should  desire  to  be  buried  near 
that  spot.  Lovedale  was  to  James  Stewart  at  least 
all  that  the  Matoppo  Hills  were  to  Cecil  Rhodes. 
Both  were  great  dreamers  and  realisers  of  dreams, 
though  with  different  ideals;^  both  devoted  their 
lives  to  the  land  of  their  adoption  ;  both  gratified 
the  natives  by  choosing  a  grave  among  them  ;  both 
were  far-seeing,  imaginative,  and  self-sacrificing 
imperialists  who  had  a  warm  mutual  regard  ;  both 
were  mourned  by  natives  and  whites  alike ;  and  it  is 
fitting  that  the  dust  of  each  should  repose  near  the 
scene  of  his  noblest  actions.  The  visitor  at  either 
grave  may  remember  the  words,  '  If  you  wish  a 
monument,  look  around.'  Surveying  Lovedale 
from  Sandili's  Kop,  the  visitor  may  say,  '  That  is 
Dr.  Stewart's  monument.'  ?Iis  noblest  monument 
is  in  the  hearts  and  careers  of  those  to  whom  he 
devoted  all  his  powers. 

staff.  Some  suggested  the  Matoppo  where  Rhodes  was  buried,  and 
which  he  had  set  apart  as  a  South  African  Walhalla,  or  open-air  West- 
minster Abbey,  the  resting-place  of  those  who  had  served  their  country 
nobly. 

^  Rhodes  had  a  high  appreciation  of  Stewart's  aims.  In  his  inter- 
view with  General  Booth,  he  said :  '  Ah,  General,  you  are  right,  you 
have  the  better  of  me  after  all.  I  am  trying  to  make  new  countries,  you 
are  making  new  men.'  '  That  is  my  dream — all  English,'  said  Rhodes, 
sweeping  with  his  hand  the  map  from  the  Cape  to  the  Zambesi. 


376  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

A  coloured  ex-pupil  of  Lovedale  wrote :  *  It  seems 
to  me  that  the  Doctor  has  honoured  us  coloured 
people  by  choosing  that  spot  in  the  veldt  for  his  last 
resting-place,  not  among  the  high  and  honoured,  but 
far  away,  as  if  to  have  his  rest  more  perfect,  and 
make  his  grave  free  for  us  all  to  visit.' 

On  the  28th  of  December,  exactly  a  week  after 
his  death,  one  hundred  and  thirty-two  delegates, 
representatives  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
natives,  who  owe  all  they  are  to  missionaries,  held 
a  memorial  service  at  Dr.  Stewart's  grave,  in  con- 
nection with  the  'Lovedale  Native  Convention.'^ 
They  had  come  together  to  consider  the  establish- 
ment of  an  Inter-State  Colonial  College  for  the 
higher  education  of  the  natives  of  South  Africa. 
Lovedale  was  the  right  trysting-place  for  them,  for 
its  success  had  inspired  the  idea  of  a  native  central 
college.  They  unanimously  resolved  to  urge  the 
States  to  establish  such  a  college,  and  to  establish 
it  at  Lovedale,  and  they  agreed  to  raise  a  sum  of 
money  for  its  support.^  To  live  thus  in  the  hearts 
of  men  is  not  to  die.  One  of  the  resolutions  adopted 
at  the  Native  Conference  was :  *  That  your  peti- 
tioners further  desire  to  express  their  strong  con- 
viction that  it  is  essential  to  the  success  of  the 
proposed  college  that  these  missions,  to  whose  efforts 
in  the  past  the  natives  owe  all  the  education  they 
are  now  receiving,  should  be  represented  on  the 
governing  body  of  the  college.'  This  was  a  remark- 
able climax  to  a  remarkable  career. 

^  On  his  death-bed  Stewart  had  made  all  the  arrangements  for  the 
comfort  of  the  delegates. 

^  It  has  since  been  stated  that  the  natives  are  likely  to  raise  ;^50,CKX) 
for  this  object.  When  he  began  in  1866,  the  Christian  education  of 
the  natives  was  considered  by  many  an  enterprise  of  a  dangerous  and 
Utopian  character. 


^^I^P^J^<JI^ 


AN  ENLARGER  OF  THE  KINGDOM        377 

'  When  the  biography  of  your  late  husband  is 
written,'  writes  Mr.  E.  B,  Sargant,  Resident  Com- 
missioner of  Basutoland,  '  no  one  who  reads  it  can 
fail  to  be  struck  with  the  wonderful  manner  in  which 
his  work  began,  as  it  were,  a  new  life,  with  the 
meeting  of  that  Convention,  a  few  days  after  his 
death.' 

The  grand  vision  of  his  youth  and  of  his  whole 
life  had  not  been  a  mocking  mirage.  For  he  was 
not  permitted  to  see  death  till  he  had  almost  seen 
the  realisation  of  his  boldest  dreams.  He  was  thus 
felix  opportunitate  mortis,  favoured  in  the  moment 
and  manner  of  death.  Very  rarely  in  history  has 
any  great  pioneer  had  such  a  remarkable  success. 
Like  the  runner  in  classic  story,  he  had  fallen,  but 
fallen  with  his  outstretched  hand  on  the  goal.^ 

So  far  as  the  visible  part  of  his  life  is  concerned, 
we  have  no  need  to  raise  over  his  grave  the  pagan 
symbol  of  a  broken,  uncompleted  pillar.  The  fitting 
monument  for  him  is  a  column  carried  up  to  its  full 
height  and  crowned  with  its  capital. 

Enlarger  of  the  Kingdom  {Mekrer  des  Retches) 
is  a  title  of  the  highest  honour,  which  the  Germans 
give  only  to  a  very  few  of  their  greatest  warriors 
and  statesmen.  It  can  be  given  to  'James  Stewart, 
Missionary.' 

^  His  dreams  were  very  bold,  for  he  had  hoped  that  even  Living- 
stonia  would  be  in  alliance  with  the  Native  College. 


CHAPTER    XXXVI 

THE   MAN  :   HIS   OUTER   LIFE 

Manliness— Unity  of  Life— The  Prophetic  Mind— The  Boer 
War— Politics— Relation  to  Committees— Union  of  the 
Churches— Generous  Estimates. 

'  One  of  these  happy  natures 
That  never  falters  or  abates, 
But  labours  and  endures,  and  waits 
Till  all  that  it  foresees,  it  finds, 
Or  what  it  cannot  find,  creates. 

Still  bearing  up  thy  lofty  brow. 
In  the  steadfast  strength  of  truth, 
In  manhood  sealing  well  the  vow 
And  promise  of  the  youth. ' —  Whitticr. 

'  And  they  shall  sever  out  men  of  continual  employment '  (men  of  con- 
tinuance, margin.) — Ezekiel  x\\\x.  14. 

His  manliness  must  be  a  prominent  feature  in  every 
just  and  living  portrait  of  Stewart.  He  was  every 
inch  a  man. 

Dr.  Jane  Waterston,  for  many  years  his  colleague, 
says  :  '  It  was  the  main  characteristic  of  the  Doctor 
that,  first  and  foremost,  before  being  clergyman, 
doctor,  or  missionary,  he  was  a  most  manly  man, 
with  great  physical  strength,  and  no  fear  of  man  or 
beast.  It  was  this  distinguishing  trait  that  so  com- 
mended him  to  the  natives  of  this  country.' 

His  individuality  was  very  marked.  No  one  could 
mistake  him  for  another  man,  or  any  other  man  for 
him.     Of  him,  as  of  F^nelon,  it  might  be  said, '  He 


A  UNIQUE  INDIVIDUALITY  379 

was  cast  in  a  particular  mould,  never  used  for  any 
one  else.'  His  individuality  was  not  marred  by 
posing,  affectation,  or  that  egotism  which  is  the 
disease  of  individuality.  And  it  had  no  taint  of  the 
'scrofula  of  crotchets,'  no  bias  towards  eccentricities. 
It  was  the  natural  outgrowth  of  the  man  within. 
While  he  did  not  try  to  exaggerate  his  peculiarities, 
he  respected  them.  In  his  youth  he  was  afraid  to 
read  great  missionary  biographies  lest  they  should 
allure  him  into  paths  of  slavish  imitation.  In  the 
Portrait  Gallery  of  great  missionaries,  his  portrait  is 
quite  unlike  that  of  any  other  man. 

Energy  incarnate,  his  activities  were  surprisingly 
numerous,  and  as  unique  as  his  face,  form,  and  voice, 
for  no  other  man  we  know  had  a  career  like  his. 
Great  in  vision  and  in  realisation,  in  him  were  united 
the  foresight  of  a  statesman,  the  enterprise  of  a 
pioneer,  the  capacity  of  a  leader,  the  common-sense 
of  a  man  of  business,  and  the  trained  energies  of  a 
man  of  action.  Along  with  these  exceptional  en- 
dowments, he  had  many  ordinary  qualities  in  an 
average  degree,  and  they  were  all  well  developed, 
for  an  experience  like  his  could  not  fail  to  pull  out 
all  the  stops  in  his  being. 

We  note  also  a  noble  simplicity  and  unity  in  his 
life.  When  it  joined  the  ocean,  the  stream  had  the 
very  same  colour  as  at  its  source.  In  him  there  is 
no  puzzling  complexity  of  thought  and  action.  He 
kept  in  the  path  of  duty  in  scorn  of  consequences. 
In  all  weathers  his  prow  was  turned  towards  the 
harbour,  and  usually  he  reached  it,  for  *  the  winds 
and  waves,'  Gibbon  says,  'are  always  on  the  side  of 
the  most  skilful  mariner.'  His  plan  of  life  changed 
only  as  the  acorn  changes  into  the  sapling,  and  the 
sapling  into  the  mature  oak,  adding  its  concentric 


38o  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

ring  every  year,  and  preserving  the  same  mould, 
colour,  and  vital  sap.  This  peculiarity  appeared 
even  in  small  things,  for  we  are  told  that '  his  hand- 
writing never  changed  in  a  single  letter,  from  youth 
to  old  age.' 

This  simplicity  and  unity  were  secured  by  the 
permanence  of  his  convictions  and  enthusiasms. 
When  Xerxes  reviewed  near  Athens  the  largest 
army  the  world  had  then  seen,  his  sage  or  private 
chaplain  by  his  side  asked,  '  Sire,  what  more  is 
needed  to  complete  thy  felicity?'  'Permanence,' 
replied  the  king.  Permanence  is  the  very  highest 
attainment  for  the  man  who  starts  in  youth  with 
generous  enthusiasms.  The  bravest  hearts  have 
their  fainting  fits,  and  some  are  zealous  only  in  the 
most  public  and  congenial  parts  of  their  work. 
When  men  pass  seventy,  they  naturally  grow  weary 
of  details  and  lose  the  keenness  of  their  sympathies. 
Not  so  Stewart.  A  favourite  text  of  his  was,  '  It  is 
good  to  be  zealously  affected  always  in  a  good 
thing.'  Like  the  great  Apostle,  he  was  himself  an 
inspiring  illustration  of  lifelong  steadiness  and 
undecaying  zeal.  By  a  'solemn  league  and  cove- 
nant' he  devoted  himself  to  African  missions  in  his 
youth,  and  he  never  faltered  till  death  overtook  him. 
To  him  belongs  all  the  praise  that  is  due  to  lifelong 
constancy. 

'  Who  but  a  Christian,  through  all  life 
That  blessing  may  prolong  ? 
Who,  through  the  world's  sad  day  of  strife, 
Still  chant  his  morning  song?' 

Many  will  regard  as  the  most  remarkable  features 
of  his  career  the  accuracy  of  his  forecasts  and  their 
almost  complete  realisation.  Even  in  his  early  years 
the  plans  which  guided   him   were   present  to   his 


LIFELONG  LOYALTIES  381 

mind  with  the  wholeness  and  unfading  brightness  of 
a  vision,  and  wearing  the  aspect  of  reality.  For 
seventeen  years  he  cherished,  in  defiance  of  appear- 
ances, the  hope  of  planting  another  Lovedale  in 
Central  Africa,  and  it  was  planted  on  a  scale  beyond 
all  his  dreams.  For  thirty-five  years,  with  a  pro- 
phetic insight,  he  was  brooding  over  an  intertribal 
college  for  the  natives,  and  this  dream  also  was 
realised  sooner  than  he  anticipated.  Some  may  say 
that  his  success  was  due  to  the  current  of  events. 
That  is  true.  Like  Nansen,  he  discovered,  and  got 
right  into  the  centre  of,  the  current  that  bore  him 
along.  But,  unlike  Nansen,  he  did  not  yield  himself 
passively  to  it,  for  he  did  much  to  create  and  control 
the  movements  around  him. 

We  must  mention  the  questions  which  caused 
differences  of  opinion  among  those  with  whom  he 
acted.  Some  ministers  and  missionaries  escape  these 
difficulties.  Theirs  is  a  cloistered  piety  which  is 
occupied  solely  with  spiritual  work  in  a  settled 
sphere,  and  is  spared  the  collisions  and  conflicts 
which  must  come  to  pioneers  and  leaders.  Many 
are  not  fitted  for,  or  called  to,  such  enterprises. 
They  do  nothing  that  seems  injudicious  to  their 
fellow-churchmen,  because,  so  far  as  public  life  is 
concerned,  they  do  nothing  at  all.  At  the  same 
time  they  may  be  doing  their  very  best  for  their 
generation.  Their  bark  is  safe  in  a  sheltered  nook, 
while  men  like  Dr.  Stewart  must  venture  upon  the 
deep  and  battle  with  wind  and  wave. 

To  say  that  he  had  his  limitations  is  only  to  say 
that  he  was  a  man,  and  lower  than  the  angels.  To 
say  that  he  was  too  much  wedded  to  his  own  views, 
too  neglectful  of  the  views  of  others,  and  too  im- 
petuous, is  to  say  what  has  probably  been  said  truly 


382  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

concerning  every  man  who  has  done  work  like  his 
in  Church  or  State.  Our  friend  was  far  from  claiming 
that  he  was  free  from  defects  in  these  matters.  In  a 
letter  to  Mrs.  Stewart  he  says  :  'You  have  done  your 
part  better  than  I  have  done  mine.  You  know  that 
if  I  am  hard  on  others  sometimes,  I  am  harder  on 
myself.'  The  widow  of  one  of  his  colleagues  writes 
that  when  her  husband  was  dying,  Stewart  said  to 
him,  '  My  dear  fellow,  forgive  me  if  ever  I  have 
seemed  harsh  or  hurt  you  in  any  way.'  The  reply 
was,  '  I  know  nothing  but  your  great  goodness  to  me 
and  mine  these  many  years.'  The  Principal  had  the 
happiness  of  winning  the  love  and  trust  of  those  who 
knew  him  best. 

Shortly  after  the  beginning  of  the  Boer  war  he 
strongly  defended  our  Government.  I  have  been 
charged  in  very  strong  language  to  condemn  his 
action  in  this  case.  But  the  biographer  is  not  an 
umpire.  Dr.  Stewart's  biographer  should  imitate 
Dr.  Stewart,  and  frankly  state  the  essential  facts, 
that  each  may  judge  for  himself.  Before  the  war, 
he  had  kept  himself  entirely  aloof  from  the  mazes 
and  zigzaggings  of  South  African  party  politics.  No 
opinion  was  publicly  expressed  by  him  about  the 
war  till  after  it  had  been  publicly  proclaimed.  Some 
Dutch  ministers  then  sought  to  influence  British  and 
American  opinion  in  favour  of  their  views.  Their 
statements  he  believed  to  be  misleading,  and  he 
contested  them  with  characteristic  energy.  The 
war  seemed  to  him,  like  the  war  in  the  Soudan,  to 
be  inevitable,  and  a  part  of  the  heavy  price  which 
had  to  be  paid  for  a  great  end.  '  What  is  needed,' 
he  said,  *  for  the  opening  up  of  the  South  African 
continent,  is  reliable  information,  just  government, 
and  a  Christian  civilisation,  or  the  application  of  the 


A  NON-POLITICAL  MISSIONARY  383 

teachings  of  Jesus  Christ,'  He  believed  that  this  war 
would  settle  the  relations  between  the  Dutch  and 
the  British,  and  also  between  the  blacks  and  the 
whites,  Kruger's  government  he  regarded  as  in- 
curably corrupt,  and  entirely  opposed  to  the  best 
interests  of  the  natives  and  the  country.  Many  of 
the  Dutch  ministers  before  the  war  were  also  opposed 
to  the  ways  of  the  Boers.  Some  said  that  Stewart 
was  influenced  by  Moffat  and  Livingstone.  That 
was  a  mistake.  His  revolt  against  Kruger's  native 
policy  was  based  upon  what  he  had  witnessed.  He 
lost  no  opportunity  of  stating  his  convictions,  and 
some  of  his  friends,  who  thought  with  him  in  this 
matter,  regretted  that  he  introduced  the  subject  so 
often  into  religious  and  missionary  meetings  at  home. 
It  was  its  relation  to  the  natives  that  moved  him  so 
deeply,  and  he  thought  that  some  Christian  men  at 
home  were  in  danger  of  being  biassed  by  their 
political  sympathies.  Let  it  be  understood  that  he 
was  a  non-political  missionary,  whose  interest  in  the 
work  of  Christ  among  the  natives,  as  he  conceived  it, 
constrained  him  to  enter  the  arena  of  political  dis- 
cussion, an  arena  from  which  he  gladly  withdrew 
when  the  war  was  over.  He  did  not  give  to  party 
what  was  meant  for  mankind,  for  his  party  was  man- 
kind. So  anxious  was  he  not  to  meddle  with  the 
things  of  Ca:sar,  that  he  seldom  spoke  about  native 
politics.  When  political  candidates  sought  his  help, 
he  invariably  refused,  and  he  probably  never  voted  at 
an  election.  He  wished  to  husband  all  his  influence 
for  his  missionary  work,  and  he  always  did  his  utmost 
to  secure  good  relations  between  the  Government 
and  the  natives.  It  should  be  remembered  that 
nearly  every  white  pastor  and  missionary  in  South 
Africa,   except    the    Dutch,    held    the    opinions    he 


384  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

advocated.  Coillard,  the  Frenchman,  entirely  en- 
dorsed Stewart's  contentions.  From  the  beginning, 
all  the  missionaries  of  every  nationality,  with  the 
exception  of  the  Dutch,  have  wished  the  natives  to 
be  under  British  protection.  It  was  a  grief  to 
Stewart  that  his  attitude  to  the  war  alienated  from 
him  many  of  his  Dutch  friends,  for  whom  he 
cherished  a  warm  regard,  and  also  that  it  offended 
some  of  his  friends  at  home. 

Lovedale  was  a  little  kingdom  of  which  Stewart 
was  both  creator  and  administrator.  But  it  was 
under,  not  a  dual,  but  a  treble,  or  rather  a  quadruple 
control.  The  Principal  had  to  consider  the  wishes 
of  the  Foreign  Mission  Committee  in  Edinburgh,  of 
the  Advisory  Education  Board  at  Lovedale,  of  the 
Synod  of  Kafraria  (in  some  matters),  and  of  the 
Educational  Department  in  Cape  Colony,  as  it  gave 
large  grants  for  education.  Differences  of  opinion 
were  inevitable  in  such  a  complicated  situation. 
Three  of  his  chief  colleagues  help  us  to  understand 
Stewart's  experiences.  One  of  them  says  that  at  first 
he  could  not  approve  of  many  of  the  methods  at 
Lovedale,  but  he  found  that  the  Principal  carried 
them  forward  with  so  much  energy  and  wisdom  that 
they  were  usually  successful.  He  therefore  ceased  to 
object  to  them,  though  he  sometimes  could  not 
regard  them  as  theoretically  the  best. 

Another  colleague  says  that  his  Principal  lived 
many  years  before  his  time,  and  that  he  was  always 
planning  for  the  future,  and  for  the  whole  Institu- 
tion, while,  naturally,  each  of  those  around  him  was 
thinking  only  or  chiefly  of  the  present  and  of  his 
own  department.  Historians  tell  us  that  '  a  far- 
sighted  politician  must  for  some  time  be  misunder- 


CHURCH-UNION  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA     385 

stood,'  as  he  is  always  forging  ahead  of  his  colleagues. 
Further,  there  was  a  financial  side  to  every  proposal, 
and  the  whole  of  the  financial  responsibility  rested 
upon  the  Principal.  It  was  unusually  burdensome, 
as  the  Institution  was  steadily  growing.  Concen- 
tration and  continuity  of  action  were  necessary,  and 
therefore  the  very  nature  of  his  position  constrained 
the  Principal  to  adopt  a  policy  which  might  seem 
to  some  to  be  autocratic  or  even  dictatorial.  All  the 
world  over,  tasks  like  these  have  demanded  such 
qualities  and  despatch  as  we  expect  in  a  general  on 
a  battlefield. 

A  third  colleague  endorses  these  views,  and  adds 
that  he  has  been  under  lifelong  obligations  to 
Stewart,  who  enlarged  all  his  conceptions  and  expec- 
tations regarding  mission-work. 

Many  difficult  and  delicate  questions  arose  out  of 
the  relation  of  Lovedale  to  the  local  Presbytery  and 
to  the  South  African  Presbyterian  Church.  The 
Church  at  home  wished  all  their  missions  in  South 
Africa  to  be  united  with  the  South  African  Presby- 
terian Church,  and  to  have  the  native  and  the 
European  congregations  under  one  jurisdiction. 
Stewart  could  not  approve  of  this  plan,  though  it 
had  been  adopted  by  the  great  majority  of  his 
brethren  at  home.  He  pled  for  a  fully  organised 
native  Church  in  federal  relations  with  the  Church 
at  home.  In  addition  to  financial  reasons,  he  urged 
that  the  proposed  union  would  be  harmful  to  mission 
interests ;  that  the  members  of  the  Colonial  Church,  as 
a  whole,  were  unwilling  to  receive  the  native  congre- 
gations on  equal  terms  ;  that  the  native  section  of 
the  Church,  being  the  larger,  would  submerge  the 
European  section  ;  that  the  Europeans  would  not 
consent  to  be  ruled  by  a  native  majority ;  and  that 

2  B 


386  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

this  proposed  union  would  hinder  union  with  the 
Dutch  Reformed  Church.  It  was  in  the  interests  of  a 
larger  union  and  of  native  rights  that  he  opposed 
the  smaller  union  his  Church  desired.  In  1902,  the 
Church  at  home  had  decided  in  favour  of  this  union, 
and  though  the  congregations  formerly  connected 
with  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  had  joined  the 
Presbyterian  Church  of  South  Africa,  it  was  agreed 
to  suspend  proceedings  in  the  meantime. 

It  was  a  real  sorrow  to  his  friends  that  he  had  to 
take  part  in  many  anxious  and  prolonged  confer- 
ences within  a  few  months  of  his  death,  when  the 
distressing  affection  of  his  heart  hindered  him  from 
doing  full  justice  to  himself  and  the  subjects  under 
discussion.  But  with  his  long-considered  convictions 
he  could  not  withdraw  or  allow  things  to  drift.  It  was 
ever  his  way  to  put  his  work  first  and  himself  second. 

In  the  matters  specified  or  suggested  in  this 
chapter,  Stewart's  compelling  influence  usually 
gained  whatever  he  contended  for.  All  felt  that  he 
was  entitled  to  exceptional  consideration,  and  that, 
but  for  his  splendid  powers  of  resolution,  he  could 
never  have  done  his  life-work.  Many  of  his  fellow- 
workers  did  think  that  he  was  too  urgent  and 
masterful.  But  all  admitted  that  he  was  entirely 
free  from  self-seeking  and  unworthy  motives,  and 
that  he  was  always  advocating  only  what  he  be- 
lieved to  be  best  for  the  mission  and  the  natives. 
Differences  of  opinion  in  conference  never  lessened 
the  admiration  of  his  brethren  for  him.  This  fact  is 
a  supreme  proof  of  the  genuineness  and  real  nobility 
of  the  man,  and  it  is  also  highly  creditable  to  those 
who  could  not  always  think  with  him.  Their  gener- 
osity in  estimating  his  services  was  like  his  own  in 
estimating:  theirs. 


CHAPTER    XXXVII 

THE   MAN  :   HIS   INNER   LIFE 

His  Modesty — His  Intensity — Contrasted  Qualities — Strength 
and  Tenderness— The  Leper — Patience — An  Inspiring 
Example. 

'  In  the  Royal  Galley  of  Divine  Love  there  is  no  force — all  the  rowers 
are  volunteers,' — Francis  of  Sales. 

'An  ardent  spirit  dwells  with  Christian  love, 
The  eagle's  vigour  in  the  pitying  dove.' — Crabbe. 

'A  man  with  a  conviction  is  worth  twelve  men  with  interests.' — 
/.S.  Mill. 

'  The  lion  and  the  lamb  lay  down  together  in  the  heart  of  John  Eliot.' 

'The  world's  final  judgment  would  be,  "He  was  a  man,"  and  the 
Church  would  add,  "  of  God." ' — From  an  Appreciation  of  Jaeph  Parker. 

'  The  record  of  a  great  and  pure  personality  is  the  best  bequest  of  time. 
— /.  H.  H.  Meyers. 

We  shall  now  try  to  reach  the  heart  behind  the 
manifold  activities  recorded  in  these  pages,  so  that 
the  man  may  not  be  buried  in  the  details  of  his 
work.  Souls,  like  flowers,  have  a  perfume  of  their 
own.  Alas,  it  does  not  readily  cleave  to  the  printed 
page,  and  the  biographer  can  offer  only  the  faint 
perfume  which  lingers  in  the  fading  leaves. 

It  has  been  said  that  generosity  of  language  and 
economy  of  action  are  political  twins.  In  Stewart 
generosity  of  action  and  economy  of  language  were 
united.       It    was   not    his   habit   to   use   emotional 

387 


388  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

language.  Even  among  his  intimate  friends  he  had 
an  almost  morbid  aversion  to  speaking  about  himself. 
It  is  probable  that  his  experience  of  oblique  self- 
flattery  in  others  had  effectually  warned  him  against 
this  frequent  infirmity.  Hence  many  thought  him 
shy  and  reserved.  The  Rev.  R.  W.  Barbour 
wrote :  '  The  sight  of  him  always  touches  me — and 
never  more  than  this  time.  He  is  so  true,  and  so 
noble,  and  so  lonely,  as  all  the  truest  and  noblest 
souls  must  ever  be.'  His  was  the  isolation  of  the 
intense  thinker  and  the  overdriven  worker. 

His  Journals  are  eminently  self-revealing.  His 
life  cannot  be  understood  at  all  apart  from  that 
faith,  which  made  a  proselyte  of  his  heart  in  boy- 
hood, claimed  all  his  powers  while  it  lasted,  and 
enabled  him  to  redeem  the  promise  of  his  youth. 
'  The  just  shall  live  by  faith,'  that  is,  he  shall  make  a 
life  of  it.  Stewart  did  so,  and  during  sixty  consenting 
years  his  faith  was  unchanged,  except  in  its  mellow- 
ness and  maturity.  Much  that  is  set  down  for  faith 
may  be  merely  the  outcome  of  natural  buoyancy, 
splendid  health,  and  joy  in  successful  activity.  All 
through  life  Stewart  had  a  large  experience  of  the  win- 
nowing fan.  His  faith,  especially  in  his  pioneering 
days,  was  very  severely  tested,  and  it  stood  every 
test. 

He  was  a  great  Christian,  but  not  of  any  con- 
ventional type,  and  he  did  not  employ  the  con- 
ventional language  of  religion.  His  inner  life  was 
cultivated  with  great  care,  fearing  lest  his  censer 
should  hold  old  ashes  instead  of  fresh  incense.  His 
religion  was  intense  but  not  morbid,  and  it  was 
thoroughly  Biblical :  the  Gospels  were  followed  by 
the  Acts.  He  seems  to  have  been  always  afraid  that 
his  words  might  outrun  his  convictions  and  feelings. 


THE  SECRET  OF  A  NOBLE  LIFE         389 

All  the  roots  of  his  life  lay  deep  in  Christ,  and  the 
inner  life  was  at  least  as  high  as  the  outer.  At  the 
centre  of  all  his  activities  we  find  a  man  on  his  knees 
praying  for  the  consecrated  frame  and  the  undivided 
surrender.  '  Soon  our  time  will  come,'  he  wrote  to 
Mrs.  Stewart,  'and  then  only  what  we  have  done  for 
Christ  will  be  a  satisfaction  to  us.'  Remembering 
that  his  work  was  to  be  tried  by  a  juster  judge  than 
here,  he  v.as  not  too  anxious  about  others'  judgments. 
He  was  not  easily  disturbed  by  what  people  might 
say  against  himself,  but  he  was  roused  when  Love- 
dale  was  assailed.  He  had  a  reverent  curiosity 
about  the  future.  To  a  friend  he  wrote :  *  Making 
all  deductions  needful  and  inevitable,  on  account  of 
one's  own  personal  unworthiness  and  wrong-doing, 
the  thought  of  a  new  life  in  a  new  world  is  almost 
exhilarating.  It  is  something  like  the  prospect  of 
going  to  a  new  country,  even  with  all  the  insepar- 
able dread  which  belongs  to  the  time  when  the 
great  mystery  will  be  solved.' 

His  courage,  physical  and  moral,  entitle  him  to  a 
very  high  place  among  heroes  of  the  faith.  This 
courage  was  the  growth  of  a  natural  endowment 
purified  and  fortified  by  a  living  faith.  Fearing  God, 
he  knew  no  other  fear.  Dauntless  and  daring,  he 
marched  right  on,  believing  that  only  chained  lions 
were  in  the  path  of  duty.  The  strongest  men,  like 
John  the  Baptist  in  prison,  have  fainting  fits  now 
and  again  ;  but  if  Stewart  had  these,  they  were  never 
allowed  to  arrest  his  work.  The  Scriptural  grace  of 
patience,  the  power  of  holding  on  and  holding  out, 
was  his  in  an  eminent  degree. 

We  have  found  in  him  many  contrasted  qualities 
which  are  not  often  united.  The  highest  ideals 
which  he  never  dismissed  or  lowered,  were  linked  to 


390  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

the  humblest  tasks ;  his  intense  individuality  did 
not  lapse  into  egotism  or  singularity.  To  power  of 
vision  he  added  an  extraordinary  practical  capacity 
which  enabled  him  to  see  the  true  dimensions  of 
common  things :  firmly  grasping  the  real  while 
swayed  by  the  ideal,  he  lived  both  in  the  present 
and  in  the  future.  He  preserved  a  fine  balance  of 
fearlessness  and  prudence :  he  had  an  instinct  for 
great  things  alongside  of  wonderful  patience  in  the 
meanest  details  :  he  was  a  pioneer  with  none  of  the 
spirit  of  an  adventurer  or  self-seeker :  he  had  great 
success  both  as  an  administrator  and  an  originator. 
Like  Joseph,  he  was  a  dreamer  and  a  doer,  and  both 
in  a  very  high  degree  ;  and,  like  Joseph,  he  witnessed 
the  fulfilment  of  his  grandest  dreams.  But  the 
likeness  ends  there.  For  the  fulfilment  came  to 
Joseph  by  a  surprise  of  providence,  while  it  came  to 
Stewart  as  the  slow  fruit  of  wonderful  intuitions  and 
after  many  years  of  enormous  and  ceaseless  toil. 
Students  of  biography  will  probably  regard  this  as 
the  unique  and  perhaps  unparalleled  distinction  of 
his  career. 

'This  one  thing  I  do,'  was  the  motto  of  his 
life,  but  how  many  distinct  things  did  that  one 
thing  embrace!  In  this  astonishing  complexity  of 
endeavours  we  discover  no  complexity  of  motive, 
no  duality  or  schism,  no  mysterious  actions  out  of 
keeping  with  his  avowed  aims.  His  life  had  no 
water-tight,  uncommunicating  compartments.  His 
absolute  sincerity  was  the  secret  of  his  great  in- 
fluence, and  of  the  unusual  financial  support  he 
received  from  widely  different  men. 

'  No  man  that  I  have  ever  met,'  writes  one  of  his 
yoke-fellows,  *  took  a  more  modest  view  of  his  own 
achievements.'     The    words   'I'   and    'my'   seldom 


MANLY  AND  WOMANLY  GRACES         391 

iritruded  into  his  conversation.  His  private  letters 
reveal  an  exceptionally  keen  consciousness  of  defects 
and  failings,  and  he  often  blames  himself  for  not 
thinking  more  of  others  !  In  his  Moderator's  open- 
ing address  he  said  :  *  I  know  I  myself  have  made 
mistakes  enough  to  make  my  days  uneasy,  and  to 
fill  my  nights  with  evil  and  troubled  dreams.  I 
suppose  most  missionaries  will  admit  that  the  work 
requires  more  moral  strength  and  spiritual  force  than 
most  of  us  naturally  possess,  and  that  in  this  lies  our 
greatest  failure.' 

He  could  not  endure  the  soft  incense  of  flattery, 
and  cut  short  the  speech  of  him  who  offered  it.  His 
estimates  of  the  work  of  others  were  generous.  Few 
men  ever  had  a  heartier  appreciation  of  kindness 
and  small  services.  In  this  he  approached  closely 
to  the  apostle  Paul. 

No  portrait  of  him  can  be  just  unless  it  gives  great 
prominence  to  the  union  in  him  of  a  giant's  strength 
with  the  tenderness  of  a  saintly  woman.  'Out  of 
the  strong  came  forth  sweetness,'  and  the  sweetness 
was  as  the  strength,  for  strong  natures  when  gentle 
are  the  gentlest.  His  extraordinary  kindness  had 
been  rehearsed  and  predicted  in  both  his  parents. 
But  his  energy,  his  ceaseless  preoccupations  with  his 
work,  his  determination,  his  impatience  with  delays, 
his  eagerness  in  urging  his  proposals,  his  'indomit- 
able eyes' — all  these  disposed  many  to  think  that 
he  was  a  hard  man,  or,  as  one  put  it,  a  '  man  of  iron.' 
Never  was  'judgment  according  to  the  outward 
appearance'  more  mistaken.  It  is  true  that,  for  the 
reason  stated,  his  face  usually  wore  a  fixed  and 
severe  expression — till  he  smiled.  A  military  illus- 
tration may  help  us  to  understand  the  two  sides  of 
his  character.     It  seems  that  when  he  had  to  act,  he 


^92  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

at  once  ordered  to  the  front  all  his  reserves  of 
strength,  and,  for  the  time  being,  sent  his  emotions 
to  the  rear.  But  in  presence  of  suffering,  he  reversed 
the  process,  and  hurried  forward  all  his  power  of 
sympathy  to  meet  the  emergency.  He  was  indeed 
one  of  the  most  benevolent  of  men,  and  his 
benevolence  was  ever  shaping  itself  into  beneficence, 
for  he  had  a  physician's  scorn  for  the  weak  emotion 
that  does  not  go  beyond  itself.  Tenderness  of  heart 
in  him  rose  to  genius,  and  it  was  not  chilled  by 
years  or  by  cruel  disappointments.  His  sympathies 
overflowed  and  went  down  beneath  man  to  the 
animal  world.  A  man  or  beast  in  misery  was  to 
him  a  sacred  thing.  He  could  not  pass  unheeded 
a  beggar,  an  old  man  or  woman,  or  poor  little 
children.^  However  busy — and  he  was  always  in 
a  whirlpool  of  work — he  had  endless  patience  with 
sufferers.  They  got  money,  and  might  have  got  his 
coat  also.  He  would  rather  go  without  dinner  than 
see  a  poor  man  starving.  Slow  to  suspect  men,  his 
heart  often  outran  his  judgment,  and  he  was  ex- 
ploited by  self-seekers.  His  largeness  of  heart  lent 
itself  to  imposition ;  he  was  generous  to  a  fault ; 
and  he  was  very  loath  to  give  up  any  man  he 
had  once  helped.  His  friends  would  say  that  great 
as  he  was  in  action,  he  was  greater  still  in  sym- 
pathy.2 

^  Poor  children  with  wretched  mothers  in  Glasgow  greatly  distressed 
him.  If  he  saw  any  one  about  Lovedale  handling  a  child  roughly, 
he  would  interfere,  and  sometimes  take  the  child  to  his  own  house. 

*  Here  is  one  story  out  of  many.  It  is  given  in  a  letter  from  Love- 
dale.  An  old  native  man  was  living  under  the  trees  near  Lovedale. 
He  was  a  leper,  cast  out  by  his  family,  and  almost  starving.  Stewart 
had  a  little  hut  built  for  him,  and  sent  him  food  daily  from  his  own 
house.  The  hut  was  carried  away  by  a  flood.  Stewart  took  a  truck, 
put  the  old  man  on  it,  and,  with  the  aid  of  a  boy,  carried  him  to  an 


PRODIGAL  GENEROSITY  393 

The  natives  had  good  reason  for  calling  him 
'Umfundisi  Wohlobo  Lokugala,'  an  expressive  Kafir 
phrase  which  means  a  missionary  of  the  most 
princely  order.  The  feminine  and  masculine  virtues 
were  so  wedded  in  him,  that  one  might  with  equal 
justice  impute  to  him  the  defects  of  excessive 
strength  and  excessive  tenderness.  This  prodigality 
of  sympathy  was  fostered  by  the  peculiarities  of  his 
theology.  In  his  student  days,  as  we  have  seen,  he 
could  not  tolerate  any  theology  which  impoverished 
human  sympathies.  No  patience  had  he  with  those 
who  discuss  the  fall  and  forget  the  fallen.  The  faith 
in  which  he  believed  was  fruitful  in  all  the  humanities 
of  Jesus  Christ,  and  it  made  him  entirely  free  from 
a  cynical  or  satirical  tone.  All  his  life  he  was  in 
presence  of  the  downtrodden,  and  thus  his  parent- 
age, theology,  and  experience  combined  to  make 
him  one  of  the  most  tender-hearted  of  men. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Hanesworth  of  Fort  Beaufort  writes  : 
'Dr.  Stewart,  whom  I  knew  well  for  twenty-four 
years,  joined  to  a  nature  of  royal  strength  a  wealth 
of  sympathy  and  kindness  such  as  is  rarely  mani- 
fested in  this  world.  There  was  scarcely  a  limit  to 
his  generosity  and  consideration  where  there  were 
suffering  and  bereavement,  whatever  might  be  the 
state  of  his  own  health  or  the  labours  and  distractions 
then  engaging  him.  In  his  views  he  was  broad  and 
liberal,  and  his  judgments  were  those  of  charity. 
He  was  grandly  strenuous,  and  there  always  shone 
in  him  the  fervour  of  an  apostle  and  the  spirit  of  a 
gentleman.' 

outhouse  near  his  own,  where  he  lived  for  several  years.  He  was  a 
heathen,  but  either  Stewart  or  a  native  student  read  and  prayed  with 
him  almost  daily.  Light  dawned  upon  his  soul.  '  I  used  to  hear  him 
pray  nightly,'  says  the  writer. 


394  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

Dr.  Roberts  writes  :  *  He  was  full  of  sympathy  to- 
wards those  who  needed  his  help.  Some  have  traced 
this  outstanding  feature  in  Dr.  Stewart's  character 
to  his  first  journey  through  Central  Africa,  when 
the  awful  horrors  of  the  slave-trade  made  such  a 
lasting  impression  on  his  mind.  But  this  is  not  so. 
Dr.  Stewart's  sensible,  helpful  sympathy  was  not 
begotten  by  any  series  of  circumstances.  It  was 
part  of  his  being.  He  could  not  help  helping  people. 
Whether  it  was  a  poor  slave  who  sought  his  protec- 
tion, or  a  widow  woman  in  distress,  or  a  sick  man 
who  needed  nourishment.  Dr.  Stewart's  aid  was 
theirs.  And  his  deeds  of  mercy  and  charity  were 
done  with  a  quiet  and  fine  courtesy  that  was  charac- 
teristic of  the  man.  There  was  about  all  his  generous 
deeds  the  grace  and  charm  of  spontaneousness.  It 
came  from  the  man's  heart. 

•  It  was  the  knowledge  of  his  sympathy  with  them 
in  all  their  troubles  that  gave  Stewart  such  a  hold 
over  his  natives  and  pupils.  They  knew  that  they 
could  go  to  him  at  any  hour  of  the  day,  and  he 
would  listen  as  patiently  to  their  little  tales  of 
distress  as  if  it  were  a  matter  of  mighty  moment. 
His  sympathy  kept  him  from  being  impatient  with 
those  less  gifted  than  himself.  Stewart  was  full  of 
patience  towards  the  boys  and  girls  who  were 
gathered  together  at  Lovedale. 

'  It  is  no  wonder  that  they  sought  him  frequently, 
and  that  not  even  his  sickness  was  a  hindrance  to 
their  approach. 

'  As  his  weakness  increased,  a  guard  had  to  be 
placed  at  his  door,  so  insistent  in  their  affectionate 
reliance  and  regard  were  many  of  the  students  in 
trying  to  reach  him. 

'  It   was   oftentimes   pathetic    to    see    how    both 


THE  BEST  DOWRY  OF  A  PEOPLE        395 

Principal  and  pupil  tried  to  evade  the  sentinel 
watchfulness  on  the  part  of  the  household.' 

If  Bacon  be  right  when  he  says  that  'the  noblest 
mind  is  that  which  has  most  objects  of  compassion,' 
James  Stewart  was  most  noble. 

While  the  failings  and  limitations  in  the  best  of 
men  forbid  us  to  claim  perfection  for  the  imperfect, 
or  place  any  one  on  a  pedestal  beyond  the  reach  of 
his  fellows,  it  becomes  us  gladly  to  recognise  the 
grace  of  God  in  the  life  and  work  of  our  friend. 

Here  is  a  man  in  a  mammon-worshipping  age  and 
community,  who,  it  is  believed,  might  have  earned 
place,  fame,  and  fortune  in  almost  any  sphere  of  life. 
In  him  is  no  taint  of  worldliness  :  '  in  him,'  as  one  of 
his  intimates  said,  'no  meanness  could  live':  he 
desires  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister. 
It  is  plain  to  all  that  he  was  '  more  bent  to  raise  the 
wretched  than  to  rise.'  From  all  the  fields  of 
secular  ambition  he  deliberately  turns  to  one  of  the 
obscurest  corners  of  Christ's  harvest-field.  His 
native  land  is  very  dear  to  him,  but  he  forgoes  the 
hope  of  spending  in  it  the  evening  of  his  life.  In 
his  youth,  he,  with  his  young  wife,  nails  his  flag  to 
the  mast  of  Africa,  and  chooses  to  live,  die,  and  be 
buried  among  the  races  for  whom  he  toiled  with  a 
great  yearning  pity  till  his  right  hand  forgot  its  cun- 
ning. Others  hope  to  make,  he  is  content  to  spend, 
a  fortune  in  the  land  of  his  adoption.  A  knight  of 
Christ,  all  his  energies  are  devoted  to  the  uplifting 
of  the  downtrodden.  With  a  reversed  ambition,  he 
aspires  to  descend,  puts  the  last  first,  and  finds 
attractions  in  the  most  degraded  races.  Not  one 
word  of  self-pity  escapes  his  lips,  for  he  scorns  the 
idea  that  he  is  making  sacrifices.  His  employments 
are  not  in  one  sphere  and  his  enjoyments  in  another, 


396  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

for  his  work  yields  him  deep  delight  in  the  morning, 
meridian,  and  evening  of  his  days.  No  gifts  seem 
to  him  too  precious  to  be  laid  upon  the  altar  of 
coloured  humanity,  and  fifty  years  of  toil  have  not 
damped  his  zeal. 

The  real  wealth  of  nations  lies  in  things  moral  and 
spiritual.  Noble  lives  are  the  best  assets  and 
dowries  of  any  people.  God's  greatest  gifts  are 
gifts  of  men  fitted  for  the  needs  of  their  age,  and  a 
life  like  this  does  more  to  enrich  a  land  than  mines 
of  gold  and  diamonds  can.  It  is  a  rebuke  and  an 
inspiration  to  the  average  man,  and  it  should  increase 
our  respect  for  our  race  and  for  the  faith  to  which 
James  Stewart  owed  all  his  noblest  qualities  and 
achievements. 


CHAPTER    XXXVIII 

APPRECIATIONS 

'  Vixit,  vivit,  nee  unquam  moriturus  est'  (He  lived,  he  lives,  and  he  will 
never  die). — Inscription  on  a  Monument. 

'  Fame  is  the  perfume  of  heroic  deeds.' — Socrates, 

When  Dr.  Stewart  died,  some  hundreds  of  messages 
of  sympathy  were  sent  to  Mrs.  Stewart  by  telegram 
or  letter  from  men  of  wellnigh  every  colour,  creed, 
clime,  and  condition.  Notices  of  him  appeared  in,  it 
is  believed,  all  the  South  African  papers,  and  in  very 
many  in  Great  Britain  and  in  other  lands,  while  most 
of  the  religious  publications  contained  a  biographical 
notice  and  an  appreciation,  '  Reduplicated  expres- 
sions of  reverential  grief  came  rolling  in  like  the 
varied  and  successive  echoes  of  thunder  among  the 
hills.'  We  offer  a  few  specimens.  Mr.  J.  Tengo- 
Jabavu,  a  pupil  of  Lovedale,  proprietor  and  editor  of 
Imvo,  a  Native  paper,  devoted  a  leading  article  to 
his  tribute  to  Dr.  Stewart,  whom  he  describes  in  a 
letter  as  his  'dear  friend  and  benefactor.'  In  his 
article  he  says : — 

'  Dr.  Stewart  of  Lovedale  passed  away  on 
Thursday  evening,  December  21,  1905,  and  with  the 
event  a  figure  that  has  loomed  large  in  the  firmament 
of  South  Africa  particularly,  and  of  the  world  gener- 
ally, has  disappeared.  Of  his  life-work  in  the 
mission-field  Lovedale  it  has  been  well  observed,  is 

897 


398  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

his  monument,  and  no  more  suitable  and  enduring 
monument  could  be  desired.  In  this  connection  one 
is  reminded  of  the  Latin  phrase  which  has  been 
applied  to  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  which,  with  equal 
propriety,  may  be  quoted  with  respect  to  Dr.  Stewart 
and  his  work — *'  Si  monumenium  requiris  circiim- 
spicel"  It  is  a  truly  pathetic  thought  to  us  as 
Natives  that  a  man  of  the  great  and  transcendent 
abilities  of  Dr.  Stewart — abilities  that  would  have 
merited  the  highest  rewards  in  any  and  every  sphere 
of  life,  were  wholly  and  absolutely  devoted  to  the 
building  up  and  perfecting  a  remarkable  agency  like 
the  Missionary  Institution  of  Lovedale  for  the  dis- 
semination of  Christianity  and  its  concomitant, 
civilisation,  for  enlightening  and  blessing  the  savage 
millions  of  Africa.  Natives  must  be  truly  thankful 
to  Almighty  God  for  giving  them  such  a  large-hearted 
missionary  statesman  as  Dr.  Stewart,  who  has  laid 
the  foundations  of  the  good  cause  broad  and  deep, 
for  those  who  come  after  him  to  rear  a  magnificent 
edifice  on  them. 

*  As  a  national  possession  Dr.  Stewart's  demise  is 
mourned  no  less  by  South  Africa  and  the  Natives 
than  by  his  family,  and  in  the  circumstances  it  is 
difficult  to  distinguish  which  is  to  be  condoled  with 
most.  He  has,  however,  for  the  lasting  consolation 
of  both  left  the  priceless  heritage  of  stupendous  and 
unselfish  labours  for  Christ  and  humanity  that  will 
bless  Africa  for  all  time.' 

We  add  an  extract  from  a  letter  sent  to  Mrs. 
Stewart  from  the  native  people  of  the  Tyumie 
Valley,  in  which  Lovedale  stands :  *  We  wish  to 
express  to  you  our  deep  sympathy,  and  our  great 
sorrow  for  the  loss  of  our  father.  Dr.  Stewart.  In 
sympathising  with  you   and  your  children  we  can 


THK  SKKTCH  OF  THE  MONUMKNT  TO  KE  EKECIEU  AT  I)K.   SIKWARl   S  tlKAVE 


A  LETTER  FROM  THE  NATIVES  399 

only  say,  Lady,  you  know  whose  hand  has  taken 
away  the  head  of  your  home,  you  know  that  his  time 
of  work  was  done.  You  know  that  that  time  was 
filled  in  with  good  work  and  pure,  you  know  that 
he  has  gone  to  hear,  "Well  done,  good  and  faithful 
servant!"  and  so  we,  in  sympathising,  say  to  you. 
Lady,  and  your  children,  be  of  good  cheer,  Dr. 
Stewart's  God  is  not  dead.  He  has  His  son  in  safe 
keeping,  and  He  will  keep  him  there  and  keep  you 
there,  till  the  time  when  He  brings  you  all  together 
again.  And  we  might  also  say  Dr.  Stewart's  trees 
which  he  planted  in  Africa  need  watering  and  care  : 
will  it  not  comfort  you  to  see  that  they  are  tended, 
and  to  watch  for  the  fruits  which  will  appear  in  the 
years  to  come  ? 

'  And  now  our  own  sorrow  and  loss  comes  before 
us.  From  one  end  of  Africa  to  another,  to-day  we 
are  cast  down  and  fearful.  The  friend  of  the  natives 
is  gone.  To-day  we  are  orphans,  to-day  we  have 
no  present  help.  The  wings  which  were  stretched 
over  us  are  folded,  the  hands  that  v/ere  stretched 
out  in  aid  of  the  Native  are  resting.  The  eye  which 
watched  all  danger  is  sleeping  to-day,  the  voice 
that  was  raised  in  our  behalf  is  still,  and  we  are  left 
sorrowful,  amazed,  troubled,  but  in  our  sorry  we  say, 
"  God  is  not  dead."  God  will  be  your  helper  and 
ours,  and  Lady,  let  it  never  be  said  that  Dr.  Stewart's 
work  was  a  failure.  From  the  four  corners  of 
Africa  comes  the  voice  of  God-fearing  men  and 
women  in  eager  protest,  and  Native  Africa  is  a 
country  to-day  through  Dr.  Stewart.  God  be  with 
you  and  your  children,  Lady.'  Then  follow  the 
names  of  fifteen  prominent  natives. 

The  Rev.  J.  Knox  Bokwe  travelled  fully  three 
hundred  miles  to  bid  farewell  to  his  chief.     He  thus 


400  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

describes  the  interview  which  took  place  six  days 
before  the  end.  '  Well,  Knox,'  he  said,  '  you  see 
what  it  has  come  to.  It  is  good  of  you  to  have 
come  to  see  me.  How  different  the  state  you  find 
me  in  to-day  from  what  you  have  known  me  in  the 
past.  Here  stretched  in  feeble  helplessness  on  this 
bed,  a  prisoner  within  four  walls  of  a  room,  only  to 
He  and  think  how  comparatively  little  one  can 
accomplish  in  a  lifetime,  and  even  then  how  im- 
perfectly. I  wish  I  could  have  done  more  for  your 
people  and  for  Africa,  but  the  opportunity  seems  at 
an  end.  The  task  is  now  for  others  to  take  up,  and 
such  of  you  as  have  been  shown  the  way  ought  to 
know  what  to  do,  ought  to  help  all  you  can.  Do 
not  expect  that  you  will  get  all  you  desire  the 
moment  you  ask  for  it,  or  even  in  the  way  you 
consider  best  suited  for  you.  These  things  come 
bit  by  bit.  Wise  and  discreet  leaders  will  ever  be 
watchful  not  to  disappoint  or  distrust  the  friends 
who  are  trying  to  do  the  best  for  them.  They  will 
stand  by  them.  I  am  too  tired  to  say  more,  even 
though  I  should  have  liked  to  speak  to  you  about 
the  proposed  Inter-State  College.  Try,  you,  to  do 
the  best  you  can  for  it,  for  your  people,  for  Africa. 
God  bless  you  all.  Remember  me  to  your  wife  and 
children.     God  be  with  you.     Farewell.' 

Mr.  Bokwe  adds :  '  I  cry  like  the  prophet  to-day, 
"  Oh  my  Father,  the  chariots  of  Israel  and  the  horse- 
men thereof.'" 

A  native  pupil  of  Lovedale  wrote : — 

'  Mrs.  Dr.  Stewart  : 

'  Dear  Mother, — It  caused  us  great  sorry  to 
learn  this  morning  of  the  passing  away  of  our  father. 
Dr.  Stewart.     It  is  a  loss  to  our  people  which  will 


A  GRATEFUL  NATIVE  PUPIL  401 

never  be  forgotten  and  to  our  Native  Church  at  large. 
He  possessed  a  gift  that  we  seldom  find  among  other 
people ;  intellectually  and  spiritually  he  was  the 
pillar  of  our  Church.  Favoured  with  uniform  good 
health  and  a  sound  constitution,  he  (Dr.)  worked 
hard  in  many  directions  for  the  good  of  the  Church 
and  for  the  good  of  our  people,  intellectually  and 
spiritually.  Though  gone,  his  work  remains,  and 
shall  ever  speak  and  tell  us  of  Dr.  Stewart.  It  is 
out  of  place,  mother,  for  me  to  enter  into  details. 
Dr.  Stewart,  our  father,  after  he  had  served  his 
generation,  has  been  called  to  his  rest  and  reward. 
We  therefore  pray  that  our  Father  may  sustain 
and  support  you  and  the  family  in  your  great  loss. 
Accept  the  above  as  an  expression  from  one  of 
your  sons.' 

Another  coloured  pupil  wrote :  '  The  Doctor  was 
indeed  a  great  friend  to  me  in  my  childhood.  It 
was  he  who  gave  me  a  start  in  life.' 

The  following  is  from  the  Archbishop  of  Cape 
Town  :  '  Dr.  Stewart's  death  is  a  heavy  loss  to  the 
whole  Colony,  and  indeed  to  all  South  Africa,  and 
the  cause  of  missions  generally.  One  must,  however, 
hope  with  much  confidence  that  the  good  seed  he 
has  sown  may  bear  abundant  fruit,  and  that  his  staff 
and  his  students  may  have  been  so  penetrated  with 
his  teaching  and  his  example,  that  by  God's  blessing 
the  cause  of  missions  and  of  Native  Education  may 
not  materially  suffer  by  his  loss.  And  yet  one 
cannot  help  feeling  that  the  moving  spring,  so  far 
as  human  agency  is  concerned,  has  been  taken 
away.' 

Dr.  Armstrong  Black  of  Toronto  writes :  '  What- 
ever men  may  say  in  admiration  or  praise  of  Dr. 
Stewart   to-day,   I   venture  to  state  that   they  will 

2C 


402  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

be  saying  far  greater  things  in  fifty  years.  ...  In 
my  opinion,  a  man  worthier  of  Westminster  Abbey 
has  not  been  among  us  for  many  a  day.' 

Robert  Beith,  for  five  years  his  confidential  clerk, 
wrote :  *  Late  at  night  I  would  often  beg  him  to 
go  to  bed.  He  would  quietly  smile  and  say :  "  I 
am  an  old  man  and  there  are  some  things  I  wish  to 
see  done."  He  was  a  father  and  friend  to  me  rather 
than  my  chief,  and  all  the  years  up  to  the  last  he 
was  my  most  valued  friend  and  revered  correspon- 
dent. If  we  had  more  Lovedales  and  more  mission- 
aries like  Dr.  Stewart,  I  am  certain  that  many  of 
the  most  difficult  problems  of  the  Native  question 
would  disappear.' 

The  Rev.  F.  W.  King  of  Alice  writes:  'His 
departure  is  a  loss  not  only  to  our  own  community, 
but  to  the  whole  Church  of  God.  .  .  .  We  all  drew 
inspiration  from  his  consecrated  life.' 

Dr.  M'Clure  of  Cape  Town  says:  *In  his  com- 
pany I  always  felt  that  I  was  in  touch  with  one  of 
the  world's  great  spirits.  This  was  the  view  of  men 
like  General  Gordon,  Edmund  Garrett,  Sir  Bartle 
Frere,  Cecil  Rhodes,  and  Lord  Milner.  No  one  who 
knew  him  in  his  work  could  fail  to  come  under  the 
spell  of  his  imagination.' 

Mr.  Edmund  Garrett,  formerly  editor  of  the  Cape 
Times,  and  member  of  the  Legislative  Assembly, 
describes  Dr.  Stewart  as  'our  grand  old  man  of 
Lovedale  and  of  the  Empire.  What  a  fine  warrior 
CToes  down  in  him — but  down  in  arms,  and  un- 
daunted, as  such  a  true  knight  should.  I  shall  never 
forget  his  wise,  quiet  counsel  and  help  ;  his  grave, 
kind  self-forgetfulness  and  courtesy ;  his  infinite 
patience  under  the  discouragements  of  seeming  in- 
gratitude on   the   part   of  those  to  whom   he   had 


DR.  STEWART  AS  A  PASSENGER  403 

devoted  his  life-work.  He  never  masked  or  glossed 
over  any  failure  in  Native  Education,  and  seemed  a 
little  weary  in  the  long  fray,  but  without  a  shadow 
of  repining  or  a  moment's  hesitation  about  his  duty 
to  press  ever  forward  and  hold  steadfast.  In  a 
word,  his  whole  splendid  chieftainship  made  on 
me  an  indelible  impression.  .  .  .  There  is  no  other 
Dr.  Stewart.' 

Captain  Robinson  of  the  Union-Castle  Line  thus 
describes  Stewart  as  a  passenger :  *  It  was  in  the  year 
1 877  that  I  first  made  the  acquaintance  of  Dr.  Stewart. 
He  then  took  passage  with  me  to  South  Africa. 
Since  then  we  have  made  many  journeys  in  many 
ships,  each  one  cementing  more  firmly  the  friendship 
that  sprang  up  between  us  in  those  early  days.  It 
is  no  figure  of  speech  to  say  that  his  company  on 
every  occasion  was  regarded  as  a  special  privilege 
to  be  made  the  most  of.  I  loved  him  with  a  great 
and  enduring  affection.  To  me  Dr.  Stewart  and 
General  Gordon  were  the  two  greatest  heroes  of  the 
age — the  saintly  servants  of  God  and  of  Queen 
Victoria — the  Elijah  and  Joshua  of  modern  times. 
I  know  some  little  of  Dr.  Stewart's  great  work  in 
South  Africa  by  its  practical  results  under  my  own 
observation. 

'  In  our  coasting  business  of  former  days,  the 
splendid  Kafirs  who  worked  the  cargoes  in  and  out 
at  all  the  ports  used  to  vie  with  one  another  in 
helping  the  officers  to  keep  their  tallies.  Turn  and 
turn  about  they  came  along  with  their  packages 
and  called  out  mark,  number,  and  description  of 
each  in  crisp,  cheery  tones,  which  it  was  a  pleasure 
to  listen  to.  When  asked  where  they  picked  up 
their  education,  the  answer  was  almost  sure  to  be 
"  Lovedale,  Baas,  Dr.   Schtoot."      It  is  astonishing 


404  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

how  common  this  was,  and  what  fine,  intelh'gent 
fellows  they  were :  many  of  them,  but  for  their 
colour  and  environment,  might  justly  have  been  hall- 
marked as  nature's  gentlemen. 

'  Dr.  Stewart  was  a  most  interesting  conversa- 
tionalist :  his  experiences  were  so  vast  and  so  un- 
common. It  was  grand  sometimes  to  listen  to 
friendly  controversies  that  arose  at  table  between 
him  and  some  other  men  of  science  or  letters.  We 
often  had  animated  discussions  which  were  both 
profitable  and  amusing. 

'  I  was  not  long  in  finding  out  that  his  charity 
was  as  broad  as  the  ship,  to  say  the  least  of  it.  He, 
a  minister  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  always 
conducted  our  Church  of  England  service  on  board, 
when  we  sailed  together.  He  rendered  the  beautiful 
liturgy  of  our  Church  so  reverently  and  impressively 
that  worship  in  form  became  worship  in  fact.  He 
had  a  novel  and  altogether  beautiful  habit  in  reading 
the  Scriptures.  He  used  to  preface  the  lesson  with 
a  short  and  fascinating  commentary  on  the  passage 
to  be  read.  It  was  both  charming  and  effective,  and 
gave  us  an  intelligent  grasp  of  the  subject,  and  a 
keen  appreciation  of  its  spiritual  significance.  It 
was  very  interesting  to  hear  people  discussing  the 
innovation  after  church,  and  expressing  their  satis- 
faction with  it.  Busy  as  he  was  during  the  voyage  in 
connection  with  his  many  missionary  enterprises,  he 
still  found  time  to  visit  the  crew  in  their  own  quarters 
of  an  evening  once  or  twice  a  week,  and  to  have 
a  Gospel  meeting  among  them.  He  also  often  took 
part  in  open-air  services  on  deck  during  fine  weather. 
All  this  was  done  so  kindly  and  simply,  with  such 
genuine  consideration  for  discipline  and  authority, 
that     the     tenderest     susceptibilities     were     never 


THE  MISSIONARY  AS  A  STATESMAN     405 

wounded.  There  remained  a  gracious  and  refresh- 
ing memory,  like  dew  upon  the  grass,  which  could 
not  fail  to  have  a  beneficent  effect. 

*  Dr.  Stewart  was  my  St.  Paul  of  the  latter  days ; 
it  was  a  benediction  to  know  him  and  to  love  him.' 

The  Honourable  Colonel  Stanford  of  the  Native 
Affairs  Department,  a  pupil  of  Lovedale,  writes : 
'  He  was  a  great  missionary  and  a  great  South 
African  :  a  man  with  a  far-sighted  and  statesman- 
like perception  of  the  problems  which  European 
civilisation  in  South  Africa  has  to  face.  He  lived 
strong  in  the  belief  that  duty  called  him  to  devote 
his  energies  to  the  enlightenment  of  the  Native  races, 
and  the  greatest  public  efTort  put  forth  upon  his  last 
bed  of  sickness  was  his  appeal  on  behalf  of  an 
Inter-Colonial  Native  College. 

'There  may  be  different  views  on  the  question 
of  Native  Education,  but  there  is  no  room  for  two 
opinions  as  to  the  noble  life  of  the  man  who  devoted 
himself  to  the  cause  in  which  he  believed.' 


CHAPTER    XXXIX 

LOVEDALE   TO-DAY 

Principal  Henderson's  Testimony — Last  Year's  Report — The 
Future  of  Lovedale — The  Career  of  Lovedale  Boys  and 

Girls. 

'  When  I  hear  any  one  objecting  to  missions,  my  reply  is  "  Lovedale." ' 
— A  Glasgow  Merchant. 

'  Lovedale  is  the  very  best  possible  institution  for  Africa.' — Major 
Malan. 

'Our  aim  is  not  to  glorify  Lovedale  or  ourselves  by  reflected  rays." — 
Dr.  Stewart. 

The  Rev.  James  Henderson,  M.A.,  J.P.,  Stewart's 
successor,  thus  describes  the  present  position  of 
Lovedale : — 

^Lovedale  To-day.  —  The  circumstances  of  the 
Institution  from  the  outstart  made  for  greatness. 
The  presence  of  European  pupils  postulated  well- 
trained  teachers.  It  became  the  principal  high 
school — for  long  it  was  the  only  one — in  that  part 
of  the  country.  It  was  the  centre  of  a  great  and 
successful  missionary  movement.  It  inevitably 
attracted  to  itself  men  of  force  with  an  outlook 
upon  the  future.  One  of  the  most  difficult  problems 
of  the  age  is  being  worked  out  in  practice  by  a 
European  population  no  larger  than  that  of  a  second- 
rate  city,  spread  over  territory  of  greater  extent  than 
the  Continent  of  Europe.  Lovedale  was  from  the 
outstart   the  leading  force   making   for   a  peaceful 

40fi 


A  MISSIONARY  VILLAGE  407 

solution  of  the  Native  question  ;  and  that  position 
it  has  retained,  changing  and  adapting  itself  to  the 
changing  circumstances  of  the  times.  Lovedale 
stood  for  a  clear-cut  policy  when  there  was  no 
definite  Native  policy  of  any  kind  in  the  minds  of 
the  non-missionary  settlers.  The  same  statement 
applies  to  it  to-day.  There  is  a  Lovedale  policy 
to-day,  believed  in  and  disbelieved  in,  respected  and 
hated,  but,  however  regarded,  a  force  to  be  always 
reckoned  with.  That  this  is  so  is  unquestionably 
due  in  great  measure  to  the  faith,  the  courage,  the 
sagacity,  and  foresight  of  the  late  Dr.  Stewart. 
Lovedale  was  Dr.  Stewart  and  Dr.  Stewart  was 
Lovedale  for  nearly  half  a  century. 

'  What  first  strikes  strangers  visiting  Lovedale 
from  elsewhere  in  South  Africa  is  the  attention 
given  to  outward  arrangements  and  amenities.  No- 
where in  the  Eastern  Province  are  there  grounds  so 
well  laid  out  and  kept  in  such  good  order  as  those 
at  Lovedale.  The  stately  oak  and  pine  avenues,  the 
well-kept  gravelled  roads  and  paths,  the  trimmed 
turf,  the  flower  and  shrub  plots,  the  substantial  and 
well-appointed  buildings  are  worthy  of  a  great 
English  school,  and  there  is  a  spaciousness  in  the 
distribution  of  the  buildings  that  few  schools  enjoy. 
The  dining-halls  may  even  be  described  as  noble. 
The  class-rooms  are  worthy  of  a  University  College.^ 
The  staff  has  generally  been  of  a  high  order.  These 
circumstances  have  been  regarded  by  critics  as  ex- 
travagances on  the  part  of  Dr.  Stewart.  Some  of 
the  visitors  who  come  to  Lovedale  arc  sorely  grieved 

^  Some  thought  that  too  much  money  had  been  spent  on  these 
buildings.  By  far  the  greater  part  of  it  had  been  secured  by  Dr.  Stewart 
himself.  He  wished  everything  to  be  done  adequately  and  hand- 
somely, so  that  Lovedale  might  supply  tangible  evidence  of  the 
greatness  of  its  aims.     The  avenue  was  worthy  of  the  buildings. 


4o8  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

at  all  this  "  waste  "  upon  Natives.  They  do  not  see 
that  these  elevating  circumstances  are  of  the  essence 
of  Dr.  Stewart's  Native  policy.  His  aim  was  to  bring 
the  Native  people  into  line  with  the  European  occu- 
pants of  the  same  land,  and  he  realised  that  the  basal 
necessity  on  the  part  of  those  that  would  uplift  them 
was  respect  for  them.  He  believed  that  they  were 
capable  of  high  attainments,  and  he  made  it  his 
business  to  bring  the  best  and  highest  influences, 
outward  and  inward,  to  bear  upon  them.  Time  is, 
of  course,  vindicating  his  faith. 

'  It  is  apt  to  be  supposed  that  the  development  of 
Lovedale  to  what  it  now  is  involved  no  excessive 
effort  or  strain,  and  that  it  grew  like  a  river  receiving 
many  tributaries.  But  the  contrary  is  written  large 
across  every  block  of  its  buildings.  The  Institution 
has  grown  by  accretion.  Dr.  Stewart  did  not  hesitate 
to  enter  upon  new  branches  of  work  when  necessity 
arose,  whatever  the  difficulties  were.  Consequently 
buildings  were  incessantly  undergoing  extension,  and 
all  kinds  of  makeshifts  to  surmount  financial  diffi- 
culties were  devised.  I  have  seen  the  remains  of 
three  marquees  that  did  service  as  dormitories  and 
class-rooms  to  meet  emergencies.  No  doubt  Dr. 
Stewart  had  large-minded  and  very  liberal  friends, 
but  the  needs  of  his  work  and  his  daring  outstripped 
even  their  generosity. 

•The  Institution  has  tended  latterly  to  become  an 
unwieldy  organisation.  This  is  to  be  met,  and  has 
been  met  so  far,  by  breaking  it  up  into  complete 
individual  entities  as  in  the  case  of  the  Girls'  School 
and  the  Hospital.  This  process  must  be  carried 
further  to  make  the  Industrial  Departments  also  a 
separate  entity,  all  of  course  under  one  head.  If 
this  is  done,  further  development,  should  such  be- 


THE  GROWTH  OF  LOVEDALE  409 

come  necessary,  may  be  undertaken  with  safety. 
The  finances  of  the  Institution  steadily  improve, 
the  burden  faHing  increasingly  upon  the  beneficiaries, 
and  they  are  becoming  stable.  The  Institution, 
under  the  hand  of  God,  has  the  promise  of  a  future 
even  greater  than  its  past.' 

During  his  last  visit  home  Stewart  collected  about 
;£^7000  for  extensions  at  Loved  ale.  That  sum  has 
recently  been  spent  in  enlarging  the  buildings  for 
boys  and  girls.  During  the  past  year  the  enrolments 
of  students  rose  to  894,  the  highest  number  yet 
reached.  The  Rev.  F.  B.  Meyer  writes  that  '  he  ad- 
dressed there  between  thirty  and  forty  sons  of  chiefs, 
some  of  whom  are  heir-presumptive  to  vast  territorial 
influence.'  The  other  year  one  hundred  applicants 
had  to  be  turned  away  for  want  of  room.  You  can 
hardly  go  to  any  town  or  village  in  South  Africa 
where  you  will  not  find  Lovedale  pupils.  In  spite 
of  the  prevailing  financial  depression,  the  income 
from  the  fees  showed  a  decided  increase.^  It  is  a 
very  remarkable  fact  that  the  Kafirs  at  Lovedale 
regularly  pay  such  large  sums  for  education.  The 
host  of  Clubs  and  Societies  with  which  the  Insti- 
tution abounds  maintains  a  vigorous  life.  Many 
reasons  dispose  us  to  believe  that  Stewart's  work 
at  Lovedale  will  be  permanent.  For  it  is  in  very 
capable  hands  ;  great  is  the  power  of  its  past  and 
traditions ;  its  palpable  atmosphere  of  goodwill 
to  the  natives  is  very  attractive ;  it  will  be  rein- 
forced by  the  Native  College  ;  it  appeals  to  the  chief 
needs  of  the  natives,  many  of  whom  are  ambi- 
tious to  better  their  lot.  It  will  probably  thus 
continue   to   be    the    mother   and    model   of  South 

^  The  sum  for  last  year  was  over  ;^550o,  and  the  whole  sum  paid 
for  fees  since  the  commencement  is  ;^83,988. 


4IO  STEWART  OF  LOVED  ALE 

African  Educational  Institutions,  and  the  fosterer 
of  peaceful  and  blessed  revolutions.  The  name  of 
Lovedale  will  thus  be  a  symbol  of  that  co-operation 
between  the  white  and  the  native  races,  without 
which  the  prosperity  of  the  country  cannot  be 
secured.  And  it  will  be  Stewart's  best  monument 
— more  enduring  than  brass  and  loftier  than  the 
pyramids.^  ^ 

^  In  1900  a  record  was  published  of  6640  Lovedale  students, 
including  753  Europeans.  The  following  is  a  list  of  their  occupa- 
tions : — 

Missionaries  or  Ministers,    .....  57 

Evangelists  or  Catechists, 55 

Teachers — Male,  458 ;  female,  310,     .         .         .  768 

Farming  their  own  land,      .....  385 

Tradesmen,  Carpenters,  Printers,  etc.,  .  .  352 
Interpreters,  Magistrates'  Clerks,  or  in  Postal  and 

Telegraph  Work, 112 

In  Railway  and  Police  Work,      ....  86 

Law  Agents  and  Clerks, 15 

Engaged  in  Transport,  General  Labour,  or  at  the 

Diamond  and  Gold  Fields,  about  .  .  .  1000 
In  Domestic  Service,  or  Married  Women,  or  Girls 

employed  at  their  Homes,  about       .         .         .  500 

The  numbers  employed  at  the  mines  and  other  labour  centres  and 
in  domestic  service  are  constantly  varying,  and  are  thus  stated 
approximately.  These  numbers  are  significant  as  supplying  one 
answer  to  the  frequently  repeated  statement  that  Christianity  and 
education  spoil  the  native  and  make  him  lazy. 

Lovedale  has  been  a  good  recruiting  ground  for  'Christ's  militia.' 
During  1906,  46  of  the  pupils  volunteered  for  Foreign  Missions. 


CHAPTER  XL 

THE  CENTRAL  NATIVE  COLLEGE 

Dr.  Stewart's  Last  Message  to  the  Missionaries — His  Private 
Statement  about  the  Native  College — The  Present  Posi- 
tion of  the  College. 

'  It  is  better  to  Christianise  the  Africans  than  to  crush  them.  It  is  better 
to  educate  than  to  exterminate  them.  And  the  day  is  coming,  whether 
we  live  to  see  it  or  not,  when  even  the  Dark  Continent  shall  have  its 
Native  Universities.' — Dr,  Stewart  in  1878. 

A  FEW  weeks  before  his  death  Dr.  Stewart  dictated 
this  message  to  the  missionaries  of  all  the  Churches: — 

'  Dear  Sir, — The  recommendation  of  the  recent 
Inter- Colonial  Native  Affairs  Commission  with 
regard  to  the  establishment  of  a  central  Native 
College  aided  by  the  various  States  for  training 
native  teachers,  and  in  order  to  afford  opportunities 
for  higher  education  to  native  students,  has,  no 
doubt,  occupied  your  thoughts.  As  the  proposal  is 
being  discussed  by  natives  all  over  the  country,  and 
in  view  of  any  action  the  Governments  may  take  to 
give  practical  effect  to  the  recommendation,  it  seems 
well  that  expression  should  be  given  to  the  opinion 
of  missionaries  and  especially  of  those  directly  con- 
nected with  the  education  of  the  more  advanced 
native  students. 

'  I  therefore  write  to  you,  and  to  other  European 
missionaries,  to  ask  you  to  assist  in  carrying  out  this 


412  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

scheme  for  the  advancement  of  native  education 
throughout  South  Africa,  that  we,  by  co-operation 
with  one  another,  and  co-operation  with  the  Govern- 
ments, may  ensure  the  missionary  and  inter-denomi- 
national character  of  the  proposed  College. 

'  Owing  to  my  ill-health,  I  fear  very  much  I  could 
not  attend  any  meeting  which  might  be  convened 
for  the  purpose  of  discussing  the  matter  and  of 
uniting  in  some  one  line  of  policy,  but  my  views  on 
the  subject  can  be  condensed  into  a  short  written 
statement,  and  a  member  of  my  staff  would  repre- 
sent me. — Believe  me  to  be,  yours  sincerely, 

'James  Stewart.' 

From  his  death-bed  he  sent  the  following  state- 
ment to  his  Committee  in  Edinburgh.  It  will  be 
appreciated  by  all  who  are  interested  in  Native 
Education  : — 

*  PERSONAL   STATEMENT — PRIVATE 

'The  Report  of  the  recent  Inter-Colonial  Native 
Affairs  Commission  contains  the  recommendation 
that  a  Central  College  should  be  established  to 
provide  higher  education  for  the  natives.  Further, 
it  has  been  officially  recommended  by  the  Education 
Advisor  to  the  High  Commissioner  that  the  claims 
of  Lovedale  to  become  this  College  should  be  con- 
sidered ;  and  the  lines  on  which  this  College  should 
be  constituted  with  regard  to  finance,  control,  and 
curriculum,  have  also  been  outlined  by  Mr.  E.  B. 
Sargant  in  his  Report  to  Lord  Milner. 

'  In  view  of  the  possibility  of  conflicting  opinions 
being  expressed  by  missionaries  during  the  discus- 
sion of  these  proposals  both  in  this  country  and  in 
Scotland,  I  would  not  like  any  doubt  to  exist  as  to 


A  UNIVERSITY  FOR  SOUTH  AFRICA     413 

my  attitude  towards  the  question  and  my  earnest 
hope  for  the  future  development  of  Lovedale,  and 
so  have  thought  fit  to  express  these  in  a  written 
statement.  This  is  all  the  more  necessary  as 
my  ill-health  prevents  me  from  taking  as  active 
a  share  as  I  would  have  liked  in  furthering  the 
proposals. 

'  The  statement  following  may  therefore  be  con- 
sidered as  my  own  personal  judgment  based  on 
experience,  and  gradually  arrived  at  after  many 
years. 

'Before  the  year  1880  I  recognised  that  if  the 
desire  for  education  on  the  part  of  the  natives 
continued  to  grow  at  the  existing  rate,  sooner  or 
later  it  would  be  necessary  to  provide  them  with 
higher  training  than  was  then  available;  and  to 
meet  what  was  coming  I  endeavoured  so  to  shape 
the  policy  of  Lovedale  that  the  expansion  of  its 
work  would  follow  naturally,  both  as  regards 
numbers  and  scope,  on  the  need  being  felt.  In 
brief,  I  had  formed  the  idea,  expressed  at  the 
London  Missionary  Conference  in  1882,  that  Love- 
dale should  become  the  future  Native  Christian 
University  of  South  Africa.  And  with  this  end 
always  kept  in  view  we  have  not  confined  our- 
selves to  any  one  department  of  instruction  or 
to  any  one  native  tribe,  or  to  any  one  religious 
denomination. 

'  It  is  necessary  to  mention  here  that  another  ideal 
for  the  future  of  Lovedale  has  been  and  is  held  by 
some.  It  may  be  described  as  the  official  view  of 
the  Cape  Education  Department,  which  would  like 
to  see  Lovedale  become  a  large  institution  exclu- 
sively devoted  to  training  Cape  Colony  youths  as 
teachers  for  the  schools  of  Cape  Colony.     The  wide 


414  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

distinction  between  these  two  ideas  will  be  recog- 
nised at  once,  and  remembered. 

*  It  is  therefore  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  the 
recommendations  of  the  Native  Affairs  Commission, 
and  the  further  proposal  of  Mr.  E.  B.  Sargent  that 
a  native  College  should  be  established  which  would 
embrace  all  British  South  Africa  and  invite  the 
co-operation  of  all  Protestant  Christian  denomina- 
tions, not  only  meets  my  whole-hearted  approval, 
but  is  to  my  mind  the  natural  result  of  a  careful 
study  of  educational  progress  among  the  natives, 
combined  with  the  statesmanlike  recognition  of 
their  desires  and  potential  capabilities.  It  would 
be  a  realisation  of  my  hopes  for  Lovedale,  and  I 
cannot  but  see  in  its  inception  the  possible  workings 
of  Providence, 

'Without  committing  myself  with  unqualified 
approval  to  all  the  details  of  the  scheme  suggested 
by  Mr.  Sargent  and  those  working  with  him,  I  will 
indicate  broadly  what  I  consider  would  be  essential 
to  the  success  of  such  a  College  as  has  been 
proposed. 

•control 

'  With  regard  to  control  or  administration,  the 
three  parties  most  interested  in  the  matter,  the 
Governments,  missionaries,  and  natives,  should  be 
represented  on  any  councils  or  boards,  constituted 
to  guide  the  policy  and  conduct  the  management  of 
the  College.  The  denominational  house  system,  by 
which  all  the  Protestant  Churches  working  among 
natives  would  have  the  boarding  and  care  of  their 
respective  students,  would  ensure  the  missionary  and 
pan-denominational  character  of  the  College,  and, 
provided  men  of  moderate  views  were  in  charge  of 


GENEROUS  AIMS  415 

the  various  hostels,  should  not  prove  unworkable. 
Means  should  also  be  taken  to  ensure  the  appoint- 
ment to  teaching  posts  of  men  of  high  character 
and  religious  earnestness. 

'FINANCE 

'The  natives  and  their  friends  should  be  prepared 
to  raise  in  part  or  in  whole  the  sum  necessary  for 
the  purchase  of  Lovedale,  and  the  Governments 
should  guarantee  in  perpetuity  towards  the  mainten- 
ance of  the  College  an  annual  sum  of  not  less  than 
iJ'io.ooo.  The  various  Churches  should  establish 
and  maintain  their  own  hostels,  college  fees  covering 
the  cost  of  the  boarding  of  students.  Representation 
should  bear  some  proportion  to  the  amounts  contri- 
buted by  each  of  the  several  states  and  by  the 
churches  and  natives  respectively. 

•scope  of  work 

'  In  the  present  stage  of  native  education  it  is 
impossible  to  lay  down  definitely,  or  in  detail,  the 
lines  on  which  the  curriculum  should  be  finally 
drawn  up ;  that  must  be  left  to  educational  experts, 
whose  views  will  probably  be  modified  by  experi- 
ence. At  the  same  time,  opportunity  should  be 
given  natives  of  being  trained  as  ministers,  teachers, 
hospital  assistants,  and  law  interpreters.  One  thing 
may  be  said  with  certainty,  that  unless  a  course  is 
framed  capable  of  development  to  a  standard  equiva- 
lent to  a  degree  course  in  a  British  University,  and 
in  time  justifying  the  conferring  on  the  students  of 
a  degree,  this  College  will  not  fulfil  the  expectations 
of  the  natives,  nor  check  the  exodus  to  America. 
Minor  points  may  safely  be  left  to  the  decision  of  a 


4i6  STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 

Council  representative  of  the  Governments,  and  the 
missionaries  themselves. 

•James  Stewart. 

'  LOVEDALE, 

^  Oct.  30,  1905.' 

The  scheme  for  the  Native  College  seems  to  be 
making  satisfactory  progress.  The  site  is  to  be  at 
Fort  Hare,  on  the  mission  lands,  on  the  east  side  of 
the  Tyumie,  and  about  a  mile  from  Lovedale. 

Several  of  the  tribes  are  redeeming  their  promises 
by  raising  large  sums  of  money.  Religious  training 
will  be  secured  for  all  the  students  through  hostels 
presided  over  by  ordained  men  specially  chosen  for 
the  work.  The  pupils  are  to  receive  industrial 
training  at  every  stage  in  their  course. 


INDEX 


Aberdeen,  Codntess  of,  hi. 
African  Lakes  Corporation,  Ltd., 
139- 

Bandawe,  138,  149,  152. 
Barbour,  Rev.  R.  W.,  117,  284, 

348,  356,  388. 
Bishop  Mackenzie,  42,  65. 
Black,   Dr.   William,    127,    128, 

146. 
Blantyre,  13,  73,  76,  140,  141. 
Blyth,    Captain,    112,    115,    117, 

118. 
Blythswood,  no,  113,  115,  116, 

120,  129. 
Bokwe,  Rev.   John    Knox,    loi, 

185,  188,  399. 

Cameron,  Sir  H.,  97, 
Campbell,    the    Hon.    Marshall, 

250. 
Chitambo,  147,  150. 
Churchill,  Winston,  265. 
Christian  Express^  313. 

Daly,  Rev.  J.  Fairley,  149. 

Dalziel,  Dr.,  222. 

Darwin,  253. 

Domira,  213. 

Don,  Rev.  J.  D.,  276. 

Dwane,  Rev.  James,  228,  295. 

Edinburgh  University,  10, 94. 
Elton,  Captain,  134,  137. 


Emgwali,  no. 
Erlangen  University,  22. 
Ethiopianism,  287-299. 

Florence  Bay,  138. 
Free  St.  John's,  29. 
Frere,  Sir  Bartle,  116. 

Garrett,  Edmund,  402. 
Gordon,  General,  282,  346. 

Memorial  Mission,  no. 

Hon.  James,  no. 

Govan,  Rev.  W.,  104,  105. 
Grey,  Sir  George,  216. 

Henderson,  Rev.  James,  406. 
Hetty  Ellen,  50,  52,  56,  60,  64. 
Howie,  Rev.  Dr.,  127. 
Hunter,  D.  A.,  173,  175,  227. 

Ilala,  129-131,  137,  143,  145. 

Johnston,  Sir  Harry,  143. 

Khama,  King,  322. 
Kidd,  Dudley,  189,  291,  323. 
Kikuyu,  239. 

Kirk,  Sir  John,  67,  69,  124. 
Koyi,   William,    133,    134,    197, 
321. 

LA3DEN,  Sir  Godfrey,  202. 
Lake   Nyasa,    13,  88,    128,    130, 
138,  141,  146,  148-150,  152. 


2  D 


4i8 


STEWART  OF  LOVEDALE 


Laws,  Dr.  Robert,  128-130, 
137,  140,  141,  143,  I47»  152, 
153,  224. 

Lennox,  Rev.  J.,  374, 

Livingstone,    David,  21,  23,  33- 

35.  37,  44,  52>  54,  55,  58- 
60,   62-64,  67,   69,  83-85,  87, 

124,  130,  152,  222,  279. 

Mrs.,  37,  39,  41-4S,  50,  54, 

55,  60,  69,  70. 
Livingstonia,  28,  34,  59,  76,  80, 

125,  127,  141,  143,  147,  152. 
Lovedale,  70,  101-103,  105,    107, 

109,  129,  141,  155,  156,  171, 
172,  174,  176,  180,  189,  191, 
193,   194,   196,  215,  220,   229, 

248,  355.  362,  371,  376,  384, 
385,  389,  403,  406,  413. 

Macarthur,  J.  S.,  279. 
M'Cash,  Dr.  James,  227. 
Mackinnon,  Sir  William,  231. 
Macvicar,  Dr.  Neil,  228. 
Malan,  Major,  133,  211,  248. 
Milner,  Lord,  169,  249,  276,  280. 

345.  369.  412. 
Moffat,  Robert,  147. 
Mozambique,  60. 
Mzimba,  Rev.  P.,  295,  296. 

Native  Affairs    Commissiom, 

249,  273,  279,  285,  290,  291. 
Ngunane,  Shadrack,  136. 

OvERTOUN,  Lord,  144,  148. 
Overtoun  Institution,  150, 152, 153 

Rhodes,  Cecil,  275,  278,  291, 

375- 
Roberts,  Dr.,  189,  345,  394. 
Robertson,  Rev.  Dr.,  14,240,241. 
Robinson,  Captain,  403. 
Ross,  Rev.  Richard,  112,  118. 
Rothschild,  Baron,  346. 

Sargant,  E.  B,,  203,  377,  412. 


Sarrazin,  L.  A.  H.,  100. 

Scott,  Rev.  Tm  201. 

Sharpe,  .Sir  Alfred,  151. 

Shire,  23,  72,  73,  75,  87,88,  130. 

Shupanga,  64,  65,  68,  69,  75. 

Soga,  Tiyo,  321. 

Somerville,  Rev.  J.  E.,  345. 

Stephen,  John,  125,  127,  213. 

Stevenson,  James,  126,  127,   148. 

R.  L.,253. 

Stewart,  James,  birth,  2  ;  parents, 
2,  3,  6;  student,  9-26;  step- 
mother, 18,  19  ;  author,  24,  25  ; 
probationer,  27-32,  sails  for 
Africa,  39;  sails  from  Cape 
Town,  50 ;  meets  Livingtone, 
60  ;  death  of  Mrs.  Livingstone, 
69 ;  honorary  member  of  the 
Geographical  Society,  82  ; 
student  of  medicine,  94-100; 
marriage,  loi  ;  children,  134, 
340,  342,  346;  at  Lovedale, 
102-111  ;  founding  Blythswood, 
113-122;  founding  Living- 
stonia, 1 23- 141  ;  as  a  mission- 
ary, 166-178;  as  a  preacher 
and  pastor,  179-186;  as  an 
educationalist,  187-205 ;  as  an 
agriculturalist,  206-214  5  a 
captain  of  industries,  215-221  ; 
a  medical  missionary,  222-230  ; 
pioneer  of  the  East  African 
Mission,  231-241  ;  champion  of 
missions  ;  242-255  ;  apostle  of 
civilisation,  256-269;  attitude  to 
the  natives,  273-286 ;  attitude 
to  the  Ethiopian  Church,  292- 
299;  Moderator,  300-311; 
author,  312-316  ;  at  home,  339- 
349  ;  man  of  action,  350-357  ; 
optimist,  356-366 ;  closing 
years,  367-372;  death,  373; 
inner  life,  387-396  ;  apprecia- 
tions, 397-405. 


INDEX 


419 


Stewart,  Mrs.,  126,  128,  171,  175, 
177,  178,  235,  303,  339,  340, 
342,  343,  382,  389- 

J.,  cousin,  6,  13. 

Stormont,  Rev,  D.  D.,  120. 

St.  Andrews  Students'  Club,  20, 
34- 

Tengo-Jabavu,  J.,  397. 
Theal,  Dr.,  219. 
Turner,  Dr.,  291. 

Union  Free  Church,  Glasgow, 

29. 
Universities'  Mission,  65,  72. 


Vanderkemp,  Dr.,  222. 
Victoria  Hospital,  227,  228. 

Wallace,    Rev.    Dr.,    13,   22, 

23.  93- 
Waller,   Rev.    Horace,    83,    124, 

153,  221. 
Waterston,    Dr.   Jane,   loi,   192, 

378. 
White,  James,  of  Overtoun,  148. 

Young,  Edward  D.,  83,  88,  124, 

129-131,  137. 
Young,  Rev.  D.  Doig,  229. 


Printed  by  T.  and  A.  Constable,  Printers  to  His  Majesty 
at  the  Edinburgh  University  Press 


Date  Due 

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